Royals continue winning-streak in BBPL

Rajshahi Royals continued their winning-streak in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) as they beat Cumilla Warriors by 15 runs at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

It was Royal’s fifth win in six matches. They need four more points to ensure a playoff berth. Warriors, on the other hand, suffered their fifth defeat in the league.

Replying to Royal’s imposing total of 190 for four in 20 overs, Warriors could only manage 175 for four. Soumya Sarkar’s first fifty-plus score in BPL in four years took Warriors close to their target. He remained unbeaten after smashing 88 from just 48 balls with five fours and six sixes to his name.

Robiul Islam Robi and South African Stiaan van Zyl started the chase for the Warriors, but the pair couldn’t last more than 4.2 overs. Robiul was the first man to be dismissed after scoring 12 off 15 while Stiaan posted 21 off 23 balls with one four only.

Dawid Malan, captain of the Warriors for this match failed to contribute substantially with the bat as he managed just three runs today.

In the fourth wicket stand, Soumya and Sabbir Rahman added 52 runs but that was not enough for the Warriors to avoid another defeat. Sabbir fell for 25 off 23 balls and failed to up the ante when needed.

Soumya’s late heroics may have given the Warriors fans something to cheer about but his effort went in vain.

Andre Russell, Mohammad Irfan, Farhad Reza and Shoaib Malik took one wicket each.

Earlier, Warriors won the toss and sent Royals to bat first. The opening pair of Liton Das and Afif Hossain amassed 56 runs before the pair was broken in the seventh over.

Liton fell for 24 off 19 with two fours and one six while Afif struck 43 off 30 balls with six fours and one six.

Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik gave the innings a boost with his blistering knock of 61 from 38 balls with five fours and three sixes to his name. Russell finished the innings on a high by smashing 37 runs in 21 deliveries with four hits over the fence and propelled his team to a challenging total.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sunzamul Islam and Soumya took one wicket each.

Royals will take on Dhaka Platoon on December 30 in their next game while the Warriors will face off against Chattogram Challengers on December 31. Both the matches will take place at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.