Jishan Alam’s explosive hundred, followed by a blazing fifty from Mosaddek Hossain, propelled Central Zone to the final of the Bangladesh Cricket League one-day after they beat North Zone by two wickets at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium on Saturday.

Jishan and Mosaddek’s innings trumped Towhid Hridoy’s hundred and Tanzid Hasan’s run-a-ball 92, which helped North Zone post a formidable total of 322-7 in 50 overs.

However, Central Zone, who were in a must-win situation, chased down the total with four balls remaining.

Central will now face the same opponent, North Zone, in the final scheduled on March 3 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Put into bat first, Tanzid and Hridoy recovered with a 135-run partnership for the third wicket after losing two wickets for just nine runs.

Tanzid, who struck nine boundaries and four sixes, missed out on a hundred by only eight runs.

However, Hridoy continued to build the innings, with the help of Sabbir Rahman, who scored 73 runs off 51 balls. He smashed three fours and five sixes.

Hridoy reached his hundred in 110 balls with a four before Sabbir finished things off strongly for North Zone. Abu Hider, Central’s hero of the previous match, took 4-59 runs.

In reply, Jishan put on three partnerships of 47, 47, and 94 runs for the first three wickets, with Mohammad Naim (10), Saif Hasan, and Mahfijul Islam (54 off 81), respectively.

Jishan, reaching his hundred off just 74 balls, went on to score 127 off 93 with 16 fours and five sixes. This was the 21-year-old’s first hundred in List-A cricket.

However, four quick wickets got North Zone right back and put Central on the brink as they slipped to 278-8, from where they needed 45 runs off 24 balls.

However, Mosaddek didn’t back down, as he took them home by remaining unbeaten on 54 off 26. He smashed four fours and six sixes in his innings.

‘Alhamdulillah, it feels great. After so many days, I have been able to play a complete innings. It also feels great that my innings contributed to the team,’ said Jishan after the match.

Hasan Mahmud’s all-round heroics snatched a thrilling one-wicket victory for East Zone over South Zone at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogura.

Batting first, South Zone were bundled out for 180 in 43.2 overs as opener Anisul Islam top-scored with 50 off 53. Hasan and Nayeem Hasan each took three wickets for East Zone.

In reply, East Zone recovered thanks to Shahadat Hossain (42) and Mominul Haque (29), after enduring some early blows.

However, Mominul’s departure enticed a collapse into their innings as they lost five wickets for only 22 runs before slipping to 141-9 in 36 overs.

That left them needing 40 more runs with the last pair batting. However, Hasan, who came to the crease when his team needed 59 runs, prevailed with the help of Mushfik Hasan, who remained unbeaten on four off 35 balls.

Hasan remained unbeaten on 35, followed by his three-wicket haul. However, that eventually wasn’t enough for them to reach the final, as they finished with two points.