Shahriar Hossain scored his first ton in the Janakantha Premier League to help title- aspirants Brothers Union muster a defensible total against Kal-abagan Krira Chakra in a crucial match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Away at the Dhanmondi Stadium, left-arm spinner Enamul Haque returned with a five- wicket haul to inspire

Surjo Tarun to an empathic eight-wicket win over Wari with a day to spare.

Shahriar. the in-form national opener, scored a defiant 101 as the Gopibagh outfit, surprisingly sent in to bat by their Dhanmondi counterparts, recovered from a horrible start to a moderate 261 before being all out in 78 overs.

Kalabagan skipper Saikat surprised the audience in the morning when he opted to chase a set target after winning the toss.

Brothers lost their first wicket in the fourth ball of the day when opener Ehsanul Haque failed to negotiate a delivery from Pakistani seamer Shahid Saeed that kept low and was trapped leg-before.

One-down Jahangir Alam, who mainly supported Shahriar in a 47-run second-wicket stand, fell next in the 14th over after scoring only 11 runs. He was bowled by off-spinner Masudur Rahman.

Middle-order Sanuar. who scored only six runs, joined Jahangir in the dressing room in a similar fashion after five overs when he failed to defend a straight ball from left-arm spinner Sharfuddowla Inbe Shahid.

Brothers were on 61 for three when Aamir Hanif joined Shahriar at the crease. The duo repaired the innings with a 79-run partnership that saw brothers going to lunch on 105 for tliree in 37 overs.

The partnership was broken on 140 when Hanif played down while trying to flash Shahid Saeed. The ball was top wide which the right-hander dragged jn with an inside edge. In his 86-baU vigil, the Karachi-based cricketer scored 44 with four boundaries.

Shahriar then partnered left-handed veteran Pakistani Zahid Ahmed to put on a valuable 63 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter was caught by Harun at backward square leg off Fahim Muntasir.

After Zahid's departure with the scoreboard on 203 in the 64th. over, Shahriar singlehandedly took Brothers near to the 250-mark during which he completed his century.

The national opener, who took 128 balls for his fifty, took another 98 balls to complete his hundred, which included seven boundaries. He Was unfortu-nately run out when Brothers were on 244 in the 75th over while trying to take two runs off seamer Saiful Islam. thanks to Shahid Saeed who acted promptly from the wide mid-off region.

With his 101, Shahriar. who earlier slammed five fifties in the league, scored 453 runs in nine matches.

Brothers hopes of reaching the three-hundred mark came to an end at that point as the remaining three wickets fell in the next three overs for the addition of only 17 runs.

For Kalabagan. Fahim took three wickets for 58 runs from his 14 overs while Shahid Saeed claimed two wickets for 46 runs.

In the other match of the day. Surjo Tarun, chasing a paltry Wari total of 176, reached 177 for two in 32.1 overs.

thanks to an unbeaten 146-run partnership between skipper Minhazul Abedin and Pakistani recruit Akhter Sarfraz,

Minhazul, the former national skipper, was undefeated on 77 while Akhter. who joined the Dhanmondi outfit on Saturday, remained not out on 63.

Earlier, opting to bat in the morning, Wa ri were shot out in 60,3 overs. National allrounder Enamul Haque, the wrecker-in-chief, finished with five for 31 from 15 overs. He was ably helped by another tweaker Arshad Khan of Pakistan, who tdok two wickets fori 29 runs.

For Wari, Pakistani recruit Tareque Mahmood top-scored with 33 while his compatriot Aamir Wasim scored 29.