Rajshahi bowlers take the match home

Rajshahi Kings bowling quartet took the match home with their brilliant bowling against defending champions Rangpur Riders in Bangladesh Premier League in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Chasing 136-run winning target, Rangpur suffered early batting jolt and eventually they were restricted at 130 for 6 in 20 overs.

Rangpur suffered early batting jolt as they lost their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza who backed to the pavilion without disturbing the scoreboard, reports BSS.

Hard-hitting West Indies opener Chries Gayle got off to a good start but could not convert it to a big knock as he perished to Kamrul Islam. The left handed opener smashed 14-ball off 23-run cracking two boundaries and two over boundaries.

South African recruit Rilee Rossouw and Mohammad Mithun then steadied the innings with a 40-run for the third wicket stand.

Mitun was looking good with bat making 30-run off 31-ball but he fall to Mohammad Hafeez in a crucial stage.

Rossouw and Nahidul Islam snatched the momentum again with their solid batting pairing an important 34-run the sixth wicket stand before Isunu Udana again struck on Rangpur innings sending back to Nahidul for 16 runs.

Rossouw remained unbeaten till the end of the innings with 44-run off 46-ball hitting two boundaries and one over boundary but he failed to cover up the asking run rate in the face of tight bowling display by Rajshahi bowlers in the end.

Kamrul Islam and Mohammad Hafeez shared two Rangpur’s wickets conceding 22 each respectively.

Zakir Hossain of Rajshahi Kings was named the player of the match for his impressive batting performance.

Earlier, Rajshahi Kings posted a modest total of 135 for 8 from their allotted 20 overs after they were forced to bat first by Rangpur Riders.

Rangpur Riders skipper Mashrafe Mortaza struck early on Rajshahi Kings innings removing his counterpart Mehedy Hasan for duck.

Another opener Mominul Haque (14) fell to Sohag Gazi after making 14 runs while Soumya Sarkar (18) also lasted a little as he become the second victim of Mortaza.

Wicket keeper Zakir Hossain and Mohammad Hafeez steadied the innings contributing 54 runs for the fourth wicket stand to take the team a comfortable position before Hafeez fall victim of unfortunate run out.

The Pakistani recruit Hafeez scored 26-run off 29-ball laced with one boundary.

Zakir kept his nerve cool as he continued his innings till the end with a priceless 42-run off 36-ball with the help of two boundaries and one over boundary by taking the team total to a respectable position.

Farhad Reza and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza were the most successful bowlers as they claimed two Rajshahi’s wickets each conceding 17 and 22 runs respectively.

With this victory, Rajshahi Kings secured four points from four matches while Rangpur Riders remained at their previous credit of four points playing five matches.