The players and the organisers defied heavy rain to complete Bangladesh’s first ever beach cricket tournament – the GP-WECCA Beach Cricket 2009 – in the beach resort town of Cox’s Bazar on Friday.

It was a great fun for about a thousand spectators at the seagull point of the sea beach to see the former national cricketers hitting sixes or rolling on the sand after taking a catch amid heavy downpour. The rain came just before the inauguration of the tournament giving an impression that the much-hyped event might see a premature end as cricket can never be played during rain. But much to the surprise of the spectators, the players and the officials decided to continue the play. The final was reduced to a four-over-a-side game due to bad light. Ispahani Renegades emerged champions in the meet beating Josephite by 9 runs in the final.

Ehsanul Haque was adjudged as the Player of the Tournament while Mizanur Rahman and Masudur Rahman Mukul became the best bowler and best batsman respectively. Former national opener Shahriar Hossain cracked maximum 13 sixes to win a special award. Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communications officer of Grameenphone, handed over the trophy to the winners. Ferdousur Rahman, AGM of market communications, and Aulad Hossain, Grameenphone’s Chittagong regional sales head, were present, among others, on the occasion.

-New Age