Khulna fought back to score 312 in their second innings despite a magnificent seven-wicket haul by fast bowler Mohammad Shahjada which gave Rajshahi a winning target of 227 runs but they were reduced to 49 for three at stumps.

Chittagong skipper Ehsanul Haque struck a superb 153 to leave his side on a strong position against Sylhet at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium. Sylhet were 97 for no loss in their second innings, replying to Chittagong's first innings score of 360 runs.

Meanwhile, at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium, Dhaka were on top virtually all day as Barisal trailed in their second innings by 221 runs after being bowled out for 175 in their first innings on the second day of their match.

This was after Dhaka added 65 runs to their overnight total to be all out for 370. In their second innings, Dhaka were 46 without loss.

BARISAL v DHAKA
Overnight batsman Mohammad Sharif hit out at the Barisal bowlers in the morning as Dhaka surged ahead in their first salvo. Sharif hit a couple of sixes and five boundaries to score 41 off 64 balls.

He continued to shine as the Dhaka pace attack walked all over Barisal's batsmen. Shahadat Hossain bowled seven hostile overs to pick up both his Tigers teammate Shahriar Nafees (1), Hannan Sarkar (15) and Nasiruddin Faruq (5).

But his spell was cut short as he twisted an ankle during his eighth over. His injury's gravity could not be determined till filing of this report.

Back to the match and Sharif continued to have a great day. He followed up his batting effort with three wickets to sink Barisal further.

Mohammad Ashraful also shone with the ball as he took two wickets including Humayun Kabir, who top scored for Barisal with 64. Coming in at number six, he struck eight fours in his 123-ball knock before being the last man out.

Openers Javed Omar (23*) and Mehrab Hossain (21*) saw off nine overs at the end of the day to give Dhaka a substantial lead of 221 runs going into the third day.

SYLHET v CHITTAGONG
Faisal Hossain was the first victim to fall on the day when he was adjudged lbw to Sylhet left-arm spinner Enamul Haque. The Chittagong left-hander added 225 runs for the fifth wicket with skipper Ehsanul Haque. In his five-hour knock, Faisal scored 121 runs in which he struck 17 boundaries.

But Ehsanul batted along to hit a brilliant 153 in over seven hours, smashing 16 boundaries in his first century of the season. He added a further 75 runs with Elias Sunny for the eighth wicket before being dismissed with the score on 356 as the ninth wicket.

For Sylhet, Enamul took four for 84 and Nazmul Hossain picked up three. Interestingly, skipper Rajin Saleh used as much as nine bowlers.

Sylhet began smartly but were pegged back after left-armer Sunny took the wicket of Imtiaz Hossain. Sylhet ended the day without further loss to score 97 in 29 overs.

KHULNA v RAJSHAHI
Paceman Shahjada kept on picking up wickets throughout the Khulna innings to keep the game within Rajshahi's reaches. Nazmus Sadat (59) added just four to his overnight score before becoming Shahjada's first victim.

Shahjada, the 20-year-old who bettered his previous best first-class figures (5-81), then kept up his wicket-taking nag as he picked up Tushar Imran (46), Sakib Al Hasan (23), Jamaluddin (13) and Sahagir Hossain (37) among others. But notably, all-rounder Ziaur Rahman's blitzkrieg 30 off 18 balls gave Khulna the edge over their rivals as his run out ended their innings for 312.

Set to score 227, Rajshahi started badly as national seamer Syed Rasel dismissed Farhad (1) but it was left-armer Razzaq who took two key wickets -- Forhad Reza and Naeem Islam -- to leave Rajshahi in a tricky situation at 49 for three.

They now require a further 178 runs with Junaid Imrose (31*) and Mushfiqur Rahim (10*) still remaining along with six other batsmen.