Soumya Sarkar impresses with bat and ball in NCL

All four matches in this round of the National Cricket League were drawn, with the fixtures in Barisal and Cox's Bazar heavily affected by rain. ESPNcricinfo looks at how the teams performed.

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Tushar Imran became the first batsman in Bangladesh domestic cricket to score seven hundreds in a year. The seventh, 103 against Rangpur Division, was also his third in the 2018-19 season. He overtook Mosaddek Hossain (2015) and Naeem Islam (2017) who had made six centuries in a year. Tushar struck eight fours in his 176-ball innings.

Tushar has now scored 1161 runs this year at an average of 82.92. Having last played Tests more than 11 years ago, he is likely to be a big talking point in the selection meeting ahead of the series against Zimbabwe in November.

Shahriar Nafees struck his first hundred of the year when he made 102 against Rajshahi Division in Barisal. He struck 12 fours and three sixes in his 161-ball effort, in a game where the bowlers dominated.

Tasamul Haque also scored his first century this season, making 116 off 185 balls with 13 fours and two sixes against Dhaka Metropolis in Bogra.

Elsewhere, Ziaur Rahman continued his batting form with fifties in each innings against Rangpur Division while Jahid Jabed hit a pair of 64s against Khulna Division in the same game.

Young offspinner Nayeem Hasan took his first five-wicket haul in Chittagong Division's game against Dhaka Metro. He took 6-119 in the second innings to go with the three wickets he took in the first innings.

While Nayeem is only playing his second season, Taskin Ahmed got his maiden five-wicket haul in the seventh year of playing at this level. He took 5 for 67 in the Chittagong-Dhaka Metro game after returning without playing a match in the APL in UAE. Left-arm quick Sajedul took 6 for 81 against Khulna in a first-innings performance that must get the attention of selectors. He removed the in-form Tushar Imran, Nurul Hasan and Soumya Sarkar, and also took Anamul Haque's wicket in the second innings.

Ahead of the Zimbabwe series, three international players also stood out. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took five wickets in the rain-affected Rajshahi-Barisal match while young batsman Zakir Hasan struck 88 against Dhaka.

But it was Soumya Sarkar's all-round show that stood out against Rangpur. He made 76 and 71, apart from taking his maiden five-wicket haul. Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes has said he has been keeping an eye on Soumya.

Rajshahi moved to the top of the Tier-1 points table with 12.98 points, three ahead of defending champions Khulna. Dhaka Metro are five points clear of their closest Tier-2 rivals Dhaka Division, who are on 13.5 points.