Rangpur Riders warmed up for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League by winning the inaugural Global Super League Twenty20, beating Australian side Victoria by 56 runs in Friday’s final in Guyana.
Soumya Sarkar, who finished as the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 188 runs in five innings, struck an unbeaten 54-ball 86 as Rangpur posted 178 losing three wickets after batting first.
The left-hander hit seven fours and five sixes and put on 124 for the opening wicket alongside American batter Steven Taylor (68 off 49) to lay the platform for a competitive total.
Taylor blasted four boundaries and as many maximums.
In reply, Victoria lost wickets at regular intervals and were eventually all out for 122 in 18.1 overs.
American spinner Harmeet Singh bagged three wickets for the BPL side while Bangladeshi slow bowlers Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Saif Hasan all took two each.
It was a good turnaround by the Riders, led by Nurul Hasan, after they began the tournament with defeats against England’s Hampshire Hawks and Victoria.
Rangpur qualified for the final after beating Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s Guyana Amazon Warriors and Pakistan outfit Lahore Qalandars.
The competition was organized by Cricket West Indies and all the matches were held in Guyana.
The 11th edition of the BPL will get underway at the end of this month.
BRIEF SCORE
Rangpur Riders 178/3 (Soumya 86*, Taylor 68) beat Victoria 122 in 18.1 overs (Clarke 40, Harmeet 3/19) by 56 runs