Defending Champion Rangpur Riders have conceded their fourth loss of the campaign as they lost against Sylhet Sixers by 27 runs in their Bangladesh Premier League match at Sylhet’s International stadium on Wednesday.
The game changer
Sabbir Rahman and Liton Das gave a confident opening start for Sylhet against Rangpur. Particularly Liton was fluent all around the field with some scintillating shots. The opening stand scored 73 before Sabbir (20 off 20 balls) got out in ninth over. But Liton continued his fluent batting and formed a 56-run partnership with Warner. Unfortunately Liton got run out while attempting a two that abruptly finished one of the finest innings of this seasons BPL. The right-hander, who scored just a total of 16 runs in the previous four matches, struck nine fours and a six.
How the action unfolded
Chasing 188, Rangpur ended on 160/6 after 20 overs.
Rilee Rossouw was the top scorer with 58 while Mohammad Mithun scored 35 for the Riders.
Earlier, Sylhet posted a challenging 187-run total riding on two brilliant half-centuries - Liton Das’ 70 off 43 and David Warner’s 61 off 36.
Player of the match - Liton Das#SSvRR#BPL #BPLSeason6 pic.twitter.com/CFX4MzY4tJ
— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) January 16, 2019
Key moments
Warner finished the innings in style
Sylhet skipper meanwhile, stayed in the crease till the end and ensured his side posting the third highest post in this season’s BPL so far. His innings, which contained six fours and two sixes, not only entertained but also surprised the spectators with ambidexterity. Warner, who normally bats left-handed, changed his stance and batted as a proper right handed batsman against Chris Gayle in the 19th over for three deliveries where he scored 6, 4 and 4.
Left hander Warner scores 6,4,4 as right hander https://t.co/B5oWLBUDNw#SylhetSixers skipper #DavidWarner produced a surprise move during his brilliant innings against #RangpurRiders at Sylhet International stadium.
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) January 16, 2019
Gayle fails again
Big hitter Chris Gayle failed to shine again as the left-hander scored only seven off four balls during the chase. The big man scored 23, 8 and 1 in his last three innings for the Riders in BPL 6.
BPL standings
Rangpur have four points from six matches while Sylhet have same number of points from five matches. These two teams will play with each other again in the return fixture on Friday.
Sylhet Sixers INNINGS R B
Liton Das run out (Howell/Gayle) 70 43
Sabbir Rahman lbw b Howell 20 20
DA Warner (c) not out 61 36
N Pooran b Shafiul Islam 26 16
Afif Hossain b Shafiul Islam 6 3
Jaker Ali †c Farhad Reza b Shafiul Islam 0 1
Alok Kapali not out 0 1
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 2) 4
TOTAL (5 Wickets, 20 Overs) 187
Fall of wickets: 1-73 (Sabbir Rahman, 8.3 ov), 2-129 (Liton Das, 14.3 ov), 3-163 (N Pooran, 17.6 ov), 4-186 (Afif Hossain, 19.3 ov), 5-186 (Jaker Ali, 19.4 ov)
Bowling
Mashrafe Mortaza 3-0-43-0, Shafiul Islam 4-0-31-3, Sohag Gazi 4-0-38-0, BAC Howell 3-0-22-1, Farhad Reza 2-0-9-0, CH Gayle 3-0-35-0, Nahidul Islam 1-0-7-0
Rangpur Riders INNINGS R B
CH Gayle c †Jaker Ali b Sohail Tanvir 7 7
Mehedi Maruf c Pooran b Mehedi Hasan Rana 3 5
AD Hales c Liton Das b Mehedi Hasan Rana 0 3
RR Rossouw b Taskin Ahmed 58 32
Mohammad Mithun † c Sabbir b Taskin 35 29
Mashrafe Mortaza (c) not out 33 27
BAC Howell b Lamichhane 13 11
Nahidul Islam not out 5 6
Extras (lb 1, w 5) 6
TOTAL (6 Wickets, 20 Overs) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Mehedi Maruf, 1.3 ov), 2-11 (AD Hales, 1.6 ov), 3-11 (CH Gayle, 2.3 ov), 4-100 (RR Rossouw, 11.4 ov), 5-117 (Mohammad Mithun, 13.6 ov), 6-138 (BAC Howell, 16.5 ov)
Bowling
Sohail Tanvir 4-0-22-1, Mehedi Hasan Rana 4-0-40-2, Taskin Ahmed 4-0-34-2, Afif Hossain 1-0-22-0, S Lamichhane 4-0 -18-1, Alok Kapali 3-0-23-0
Sixers won by 27 runs
MoM: Liton Das