Plays: Blistering Ronchi, brilliant Taskin and economical Mahmudullah

Ronchi’s blistering startNew Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi provided a blistering start to his side Chittagong Vikings as they flew towards the 50-run mark after just three overs. Among the 50 runs, Ronchi scored 48 while the remaining two came from the bat of the other opener Soumya Sarkar. It was raining boundaries and sixes while Ronchi was batting. The right-handed batsman scored 78 off just 35 balls before being dismissed by Rangpur Riders seamer Ravi Bopara. Ronchi smashed seven boundaries and as many sixes. Chittagong however, failed to capitalise on the good start as only 66 came in their last 10 overs. They eventually posted a total of 166, despite Ronchi’s stormy start.Taskin’s brilliant footwork removes BoparaFast bowler Taskin Ahmed’s scintillating bowling during the 13th over brought Chittagong back into the match. Rangpur were scoring briskly and getting ever so close to their target of 167. But the last three balls of the 13th over turned the table around. Taskin took two wickets off successive balls, first cleaning up left-hander Shahriar Nafees with a yorker before sending back Afghanistan recruit Samiullah Shenwari for a golden duck. The hat-trick ball was crucial in the context of the game. New batsman Thisara Perera of Sri Lanka played a straight drive and in the follow through, Taskin managed to touch the ball with his foot before the ball crashed into the stumps. The unfortunate batsman was Bopara (38 off 32 balls), who was batting beautifully. Although it was a run out, full credit goes to Taskin due to his magnificent footwork to get rid of a dangerous batsman.Mahmudullah’s economical bowlingKhulna Titans captain Mahmudullah bowled in the crucial period of Sylhet Sixers’ innings and picked up two important wickets. Sylhet opener Upul Tharanga was the man in form as he scored three consecutive fifties in the tournament. Mahmudullah dismissed the Sri Lankan in the first ball of the ninth over. Tharanga was removed after scoring 26 off 24 balls. Mahmudullah’s second wicket was that of Sri Lankan Danushka Gunathilaka. He was in good touch, having scored 26 off 24 deliveries. Gunathilaka’s wicket came in the first balls of the 12th over. Mahmudullah finished with bowling figure of 2/12 in three overs. As a result, Sylhet were restricted to 135 for the loss of five wickets.