Under cloudy skies, the Round 8 battle of two title-contenders turned into a lop-sided affair by the first hour as the Rajshahi paceman bowled Abahani to a four-point lead at the top of the table.

Kalabagan won an exciting encounter against Young Pegasus by two wickets at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium while Partex lifted them from the relegation zone with a 37-run win over Indira Road.

ABAHANI v SONARGAON
When Al Shahriar hit two boundaries off Ziaur Rahman's opening over in the curtailed 42-overs a-side match, Abahani skipper Khaled Mashud looked visibly tense as this was a crucial top-of-the-table battle.

Shahjada, who had to play second fiddle to his more illustrious teammate Mashrafee-bin-Mortuza all along, then transformed his skipper's face picking up opener Ejaz Ahmed for a duck and then removing Sonargaon's Sri Lankan import Saman Jayantha for the same score. Elias Sunny was promoted up the order to blunt the swing but he edged to Sujith Fernando as Shahjada ran amock.

At one point, Sonargaon were seven down for as low as 12 runs. Six of them were out for ducks with only Dhiman Ghosh scoring highest with 17 runs as Sonargaon only totalled 69 runs, their lowest in the season.

The hardworking Rajshahi lad took full advantage of the movement that came off the pitch and little swing that was present. He bowled two maiden-wicket overs in his six-over spell, which cost him just nine runs.

"This is another fantastic spell of bowling that I have witnessed," said skipper Mashud after the match.

"After Mashrafee's spell (against Mohammedan last week), I think this is one of the best I have seen."

Shahjada's sincerity was rewarded on the day when he bowled inswingers and outswingers at will on a true wicket, according to Mashud. Soharwardi Shuvo took two wickets while Talha Jubair and Ziaur took one apiece.

Kuntal Chandra and Naeem Islam completed the formalities of notching up the target in 16.4 overs.

PEGASUS v KALABAGAN
It was the tale of two captains as first Lal Mohon took the Kalabagan attack apart smashing four sixes and nine boundaries in his whirlwind 85 as Young Pegasus posted a comfortable 295 for eight in 45 overs after the match began an hour late due to dense fog.

Opener Rabiul Karim struck a patient 55 while all-rounder Sharifullah hit 64 off 58 balls.

Kalabagan always maintained the required run-rate but lost both openers within the tenth over on way to reach 296-8. But Lal Mohon's counterpart Nahidul Haq ensured that his side won. The portly middle-order batsman cracked 82 off 85 balls and was well-supported by half-centuries from Pakistani hard-hitter Shahbaz Butt, Mahbubul Karim and Salahuddin.

Kalabagan tailenders kept their cool as they won the match with one ball remaining after Sharif bowled a fine spell picking up four wickets for Pegasus to add to his 64 earlier.

PARTEX v INDIRA ROAD
Put into bat first, Partex rode on Rajin Saleh's 89 to post 176 for 9 in 33 overs. But their innings war rocked throughout by Tariqul Islam who picked up five wickets.

But Indira's innings also lost impetus as seamer Mahfuzur Rahman ripped them apart taking five for 16 as well. His effort bore fruit as Indira were restricted to 139 for eight.