An imperious half-century from veteran Australian Shane Watson took the Rangpur Rangers to a 38-run victory over Sylhet Thunder in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League T20 match at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium Friday.
Rangpur openers Mohammad Naim and Watson gave their team a flying start, after Sylhet Thunder won the toss and elected to field first.
Naim scored 42 off 33 balls before being dismissed by Monir Hossain in the ninth over, while Watson went on to score 68 off just 36 deliveries before getting bowled out by Ebadat Hossain in the15th over.
Watson’s lightning innings included six fours and five sixes, while Naim struck seven fours and one six.
Rangpur's Mukidul Islam takes a well judged running catch, that of Sylhet's Mohammad Mithun Dhaka Tribune/Md Manik
Cameron Delport (25 off 18 deliveries) and Mohammad Nabi (23 off 17) also chipped in, before Fazle Mahmud blitzed 16 runs off eight balls at the end of the innings to set a target of 200 for the loss of five wickets.
Chasing the total, Sherfane Rutherford top scored for Sylhet with 60 off 37 balls, while Mohammad Mithun scored 30 off 22 balls.
The rest of the Sylhet Thunder batsmen offered little resistance, as they were bowled out for 161.
32TH Match, RRvST
RANGPUR RANGERS INNINGS R B
Naim c Rony b Monir 42 33
Watson b Ebadat 68 36
Delport c Shafiqullah b Ebadat 25 18
Gregory c Fletcher b Rutherford15 9
Nabi c Rony b Santokie 23 17
Fazle Mahmud not out 16 8
Al-Amin not out 0 0
Extras (b 4, lb 1, nb 1, w 4) 10
Total (20 Overs) 199/5
Fall Of Wickets
1-77 (Naim), 2-138 (Delport), 3-138 (Watson), 4-161 (Gregory), 5-186 (Nabi)
Bowling
Santokie 4-0-56-1, Ebadat 4-0-30-2, Rutherford 4-0-28-1, Nayeem 1-0-21-0, Monir 4-0-25-1, Gazi 3-0-34-0
SYLHET THUNDER INNINGS R B
Fletcher c Gregory b Taskin 19 12
Mazid b Gregory 7 11
Mithun c sub (Mukidul) b Nabi 30 22
Rutherford run out (Watson) 60 37
Shafiqullah c Naim b Gregory 10 9
Gazi c Watson b Delport 1 2
Rony c Gregory b Mustafizur 0 2
Santokie b Mustafizur 6 13
Nayeem b Taskin 12 7
Ebadat not out 0 0
Monir absent hurt - -
Extras (lb 7, w 9) 16
Total (19.1 Overs) 161
Fall Of Wickets
1-27 (Fletcher), 2-50 (Mazid), 3-88 (Mithun), 4-127 (Shafiqullah), 5-134 (Gazi), 6-142 (Rony), 7-145 (Rutherford), 8-161 (Nayeem), 9-161 (Santokie)
Bowling
Sunny 2-0-18-0, Mustafizur 3.1-0-18-2, Taskin 4-0-39-2, Gregory 4-0-27-2, Nabi 4-0-27-1, Delport 2-0-25-1
Rangpur Rangers won by 38 runs
MoM: Shane Watson (RR)