Rajshahi had the honour of holding the first ever Bangladesh Games T20 title as Sabbir Rahman’s unbeaten 50 powered them to a five-wicket win over Rangpur in the final at Bogra’s Shaheed Chandu Stadium yesterday.
Opting to bat first, Rangpur lost some quick wickets before skipper Sohrawardi Shuvo and all-rounder Alauddin Babu’s contribution took their score to 150-7. Babu top scored with 38 runs while Sohrawardi remained not out on 28. Pacer Delwar Hossain and Muktar Ali took 3 wickets each for Rajshahi.
Chasing the target, Rajshahi also experienced similar hiccups early in the innings but Sabbir and Farhad Hossain staged a comeback to ensure the gold for their division in the 19th over, as Rajshahi reached 154-5.
Farhad made 28, but Sabbir made sure to finish the game as he remained not out on 64 runs from 46 balls. Sabbir’s brilliant performance fetched him the man of the match award alongside the best player of the tournament trophy.
Earlier in the day, Dhaka Metro won the bronze with a comfortable 74-run victory over Khulna.
A captain’s knock from Marshal Ayub enabled Metro to post a challenging 171-7 in 20 overs. Marshal made 53 runs off 35 balls.
The task for the Khulna batsmen was made harder by some quality spin bowling from Arafat Sunny, Asif Ahmed and Bishwanath Haldar. Wickets tumbling cheaply in regular intervals eventually saw Khulna getting bowled out for 96 in the 19th over. Taposh Ghosh top scored with 29 runs for Khulna.
The spinning trio – Arafat, Asif and Bishwanath – bagged two wickets each for Dhaka Metro.
Score:
Dhaka Metro 171-7 in 20 overs
Marshal Ayub 53, Asif Ahmed 29; Raihan Uddin 25/1, Al Amin 34/1
Khulna 97 all out in 18.2 overs
Taposh Ghosh 29*; Bishwanath Haldar 17/2, Asif Ahmed 17/2, Arafat Sunny 28/2
Result: Dhaka Metro won by 74 runs
Rangpur 150-7 in 20 overs
Alauddin Babu 38, Sohrawardi Shuvo 28*; Muktar Ali 26/3, Delwar Hossain 31/3
Rajshahi 154-5 in 19 overs
Sabbir Rahman 64*, Farhad Hossain 28; Shuvashish Roy 28/1, Alauddin Babu 30/1
Result: Rajshahi won by five wickets
