Skipper Akbar Ali produced a valiant century but Bangladesh Emerging Team fell short by 10 runs against South Africa Emerging in a high-scoring second one-dayer at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi on Wednesday.

The 11th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will kick off on December 30, with defending champions Fortune Barishal taking on Durbar Rajshahi in the curtain raiser at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

The performances of the likes of Akbar, Salman and Jishan weigh in on the notion that quality alone, not age, matters as Bangladesh looks to unearth and nurture emerging T20 talents.

Bangladesh A skipper Akbar Ali played a quickfire 24-ball 45 to bail out his side in a five-wicket victory over Hong Kong in their opening Group A fixture of the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman on Friday.

"I think the series is a great opportunity for me. Not only this series, wherever I play, I think the opportunity for the national team will come if I do well. I always try to perform, be it NCL, BCL or Premier League," said Akbar.

Rangpur Division skipper Akbar Ali piled on the runs as he followed his first innings knock of 179 with a 97-run second-innings knock in a draw against Dhaka Metro on Day Four in their National Cricket League fixture at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna yesterday.

On Wednesday morning, singer Akbar Ali Gazi was taken to Birdem Hospital, where he was put on life support. The singer had been in the ICU since last Saturday.

His death is a loss for the nation.

A true loss for the nation

Bangladesh Cricket Board's High Performance (HP) team's scheduled tour of Ireland had been pushed to next year due to the host board's international commitments, while the ongoing financial crisis in Sri Lanka had seen the SLC unable to host Bangladesh HP this year as well.