Rajshahi batsman Mizanur Rahman raises his bat to celebrate his century against Sylhet during the opening day of their National cricket League final round match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday. — New Age photo

Riding on a superb unbeaten century from Anamul Haque (178) National Cricket League leaders Khulna had the first day of the last round match against Dhaka Metro under their control on Friday.
Khulna are all but certain to play this year’s final and their strong batting line-up dominated their opposition at the Fatullah stadium as they piled up 388-4 with  Anamul stroking his third century of the season along with half-centuries from Imrul Kayes (87) and Mithun Ali (54).
Anamul is now the second highest run-getter (725) in this season, just 19 runs behind Metro’s Asif Ahmed who accumulated 744 runs.
Meanwhile at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, opener Mizanur Rahman made 105 as Rajshahi took a firm grip on their rivals Sylhet at the end of day one.
Second-placed Sylhet (95.62) are just 1.64 points ahead of Rajshahi (93.98) and the winners in the match will go through to the final, to be played on April 26.

Khulna v Dhaka Metro
After opting to bat first, Khulna suffered their first blow when Soumya Sarkar (23) was trapped leg-before by paceman Tareq Aziz with the score at 35, but a 154-run second-wicket partnership between Anamul and Imrul put Khulna in a commanding position.
Imrul, who played only two matches this season, missed out on his first century of the campaign when left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny ended his 120-ball knock. He struck nine fours and two sixes.
Coming in at number three, Anamul, who struck a century in his last appearance in the Dhaka Premier League against Abahani Limited, looked to be in a fabulous form as he went on to build another 80-run stand with Mithun.
After Mithun’s departure, Taposh Ghosh (35) joined Anamul and the duo made sure their side didn’t lose any more wickets on the day as they added 112 runs in their unbroken fifth-wicket stand to take the score to 388-4.
Anamul played 254 balls and will be looking for his maiden double century when he comes out to bat today. His innings featured 24 fours and two sixes.
Tareq, Arafat, Elias Sunny and Asif grabbed one wicket apiece.

Rajshahi v Sylhet
A splendid 186-run opening stand between Mizanur and Jahirul Islam (87) gave Rajshahi the much-needed start after they elected to bat first in their all-important match.
Mizanur was the first to depart, but made sure he reached his maiden ton before falling to left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr. He played 145 balls to score 105 which contained 15 fours and a six.
Jahirul missed the opportunity of getting his second ton when he got out on 87 after playing 180 balls. He hit 10 fours.
Junaed Siddique (36) and Farhad Hossain (4) could not contribute much as Rajshahi were reduced to 243-4.
Hamidul Islam (18) and Sabbir Rumman (31) are the two unbeaten batsmen at the crease who saw their side finish the day at 291-4.
Sylhet’s Enamul, the highest wicket-taker in the league, grabbed two wickets to extend his tally to 55 wickets.