The fourth and final day is expected to provide a cracker of a finish to the first round of the Bangladesh Cricket League with South Zone needing 228 runs with eight wickets in hand against Central Zone at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.

23-year-old off-spinner Mehedi Hasan bagged his maiden five wicket haul for South yesterday as he trapped Central's final wicket of Robiul Haque leg-before after the batsman scored 37 off 87 balls. Robiul added 79 runs for the last wicket with Shahidul Islam, who remained unbeaten on 41 to help post a challenging target of 266 runs.

In their reply, South were also in a spot of bother after left-arm seamer Abu Hider removed Anamul Haque (5) and Fazle Mahmud (11) cheaply. Experienced campaigners Shahriar Nafees (11 not out) and Tushar Imran (10 not out) will resume the final day on 38 for 2.

Central, led by Liton Das, started the third day positively, adding fifty runs for the opening stand before pacer Rubel Hossain dismissed Saif Hassan after scoring eight off 43 deliveries.

Liton remained aggressive as he reached his fifty but Mehedi then took charge with the ball. After that, Central kept losing wickets in clusters.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was the first of Mehedi's five victims, trapped leg-before. Mehedi went on to dismiss Liton on 84 runs off 95 balls, featuring twelve fours, as Central went from 125 for 2 to reeling on on 185 for 9.

Veteran left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak and pacer Shafiul Islam took two wickets each for South.

At the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi, the match between East Zone and North Zone seems to be heading for a draw.

East, struggling on 125 for 4 as they resumed, ended the third day on 380 for 7 riding on fifties from Yasir Ali, Saifuddin and skipper Farhad Reza.

Yasir fell just six runs short of his hundred with 94 off 129 balls laced with 13 fours and a six. Yasir added 113 runs for the sixth wicket alongside Saifuddin, who scored 64 runs off 103 balls, including eight fours and two sixes.

Skipper Farhad remained unbeaten on 55 while Enamul Haque was not out on 25 as the pair added an unbeaten 63-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Pacer Ebadat Hossain picked up three while left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam took two wickets for North.

SCORES IN BRIEF 

CENTRAL ZONE V SOUTH ZONE

CENTRAL ZONE: 282 all out in 74.5 overs and 264 all-out in 76.4 overs (Liton 84, Shahidul 41 not out, Shuvagata 36; Mehedi 5-72, Shafiul 2-61, Razzak 2-63)

SOUTH ZONE: 281 all out in 87.1 overs and 38 for two in 9 overs (Nafees 11 not out, Tushar 10 not out, Fazle 11;Abu Hider 2-17)

NORTH ZONE V EAST ZONE

NORTH ZONE: 445 all out in 112.1 overs (Mizanur 92, Naeem 137, Jahurul 104, Ziaur 29; Jayed 2-81, Mahmud 4-84, Enamul 3-122)

EAST ZONE: 380 for seven in 106.3 overs (Yasir 94, Saifuddin 64, Reza 55 not out; Ebadat 3-76, Sunzamul 2-78)