Jimmy Neesham and Shakib al Hasan came up with all-round performances to help Bangladesh Premier League leaders Rangpur Riders consolidate top spot in the points table.
Following their 53-run victory over Chattogram Challengers in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Saturday, the Riders now have 12 points from eight matches, while the port city outfit are third with 10 points from eight games.
Batting first, Rangpur racked up 211 for the loss of three wickets – the highest total so far in this edition – thanks to half centuries from BPL debutants Reeza Hendricks (58) and Neesham (51 not out).
There were also useful contributions from captain Nurul Hasan (31 not out), Shakib al Hasan (27) and Rony Talukdar (24).
In the process, Shakib became only the second player to achieve the double of 7,000 runs and 400 wickets in Twenty20 cricket after the West Indies’ Andre Russell.
The ace all-rounder is now the second Bangladeshi in the 7,000-run club in T20s after Tamim Iqbal.
Salauddin Sakil picked up two wickets for Chattogram.
In reply, the Challengers were restricted to 158 for six, with Saykat Ali scoring the highest 63.
Shakib and Neesham took two wickets each for Rangpur.
27TH MATCH
Rangpur Riders 211/3 (Hendricks 58, Neesham 51*) beat Chattogram Challengers 158/6 (Saykat 63, Shakib 2/24) by 53 runs