Abu Jayed secures Khulna's second win in BPL
A fierce bowling spells by pacer Abu Jayed helped Khulna Titans to register their second victory in the AKS Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 as they beat Chittagong Vikings by 18 runs in the 11th match of the tournament held on Sunday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.
With this win, Khulna Titans secured four points from three matches while Chittagong Vikings remained at their previous credit of two points playing the same number of outings.
Chasing a massive winning target of 171-run set by Titans, Chittagong Vikings found the chase stiff against the face of some tight bowing display by Khulna Titans bowlers and eventually they were restricted at a 152 for 7 in 20 overs.
Zimbabwean batsman Sikander Raza top scored with 27-ball off 37 runs and during the process he shared 59 runs fifth wicket stand with Pakistani batsman Misbah-Ul-Haque (30), after Khulna bowlers threatened early inroad on Chittagong innings sending back their four top order batsmen in the 38 runs of the scoreboard.
Pacer Abu Jayed was the most successful bowler for Khulna as he picked up four Chittagong's wickets including the two openers Luke Ronchi (2) and Soumya Sarkar (0), Anmul Haque (18) and Misba-ul Haque for 35 runs.
He was later named the player of the match for his impressive bowling performance.
Cameo Luis Reece (22) and Tanbir Haider (14) however offered some resistance in the end but it merely reduced the defeat gap.
Earlier, sensible batting display by skipper Mahmudullah and Ariful Haque saw Khulna Titans piled up a challenging total of 170 for 7 from their allotted 20 overs, after they forced to bat first by Chittagong Vikings.
Khulna Titans suffered early batting jolt as they slipped to 29 for 3 in 4.3 overs.
Skipper Maumudullah then came to crease to rescue Khulna as he played a responsible 33-ball off 40 runs laced with two over boundaries and two boundaries to bring Khulna to back in their feet.
The Titans captain also shared an important 39 runs fourth wicket stand with South African batsman Rilee Rossouw who chipped away useful 25 runs off 26 balls before he perished to Taskin Ahmed.
West Indies batsman Carlos Brathwaite then came for Khulna to accelerate Khulna's run rate with middle order batsman Ariful Haque.
The duo shared 55-run stand from just 21 deliveries helped Titans to set a challenging total.
The 24-year right handed batsman Ariful smashed 25-ball off 40 balls, an innings that contained four towering over boundaries and one boundary before he fall to Taskin Ahmed.
Cameo Carlos found rather aggressive with a hurricane 14-ball off 30 runs adding some much needed runs in the death overs to ensure a strong total for the Titans before he was clean bowled by Subashish Roy.
Pacer Taskin Ahmed was the most successful bowler for Chittagong as he grabbed three wickets for 43 runs in his four overs. He was well supported by Sunzamul Islam who bagged two wickets giving away 20 runs.
Source: BSS
