Spin from both ends at the startNasir Hossain captained newcomer Sylhet Sixers, who also happen to be the home team. Their first match was against top favourite and defending champion Dhaka Dynamites. And Nasir as a captain undertook a strange yet effective strategy. He started the innings with spin from both ends even though they have England’s Liam Plunkett, West Indies’ Krishmar Santokie and Abul Hasan in their bowling line-up. The captain took the ball in his hand in the first over and gave Shuvagata Hom, another off-spinner, the ball in the second over. The strategy worked for the Sixers as their skipper took the wicket of Dhaka Dynamites’ Mehedi Maruf in the very first over. The two off-spinners checked the runs for the Sixers in the first four overs and conceded only 25 runs taking one wicket. Although Nasir came five minutes late for the toss, in the end it was an effective move from him at the beginning of his captaincy career in the BPL 2017.Sixers openers start with a bangSylhet Sixers’ Upul Tharanga of Sri Lanka and Andre Fletcher of the West Indies were not considered destructive like the other teams’ opening batting pairs. But these two openers proved everyone wrong and formed a solid opening partnership. They added 125 for the opening wicket stand within 16 overs and gave no chance to Dhaka to get back into the match. These two batsmen handled Shakib al Hasan really well and also kept the scoreboard ticking along. Among them, Fletcher scored 63 off 51 balls and Tharanga remained not out on 69 off 48 deliveries. And so, it was a great start for the home team. On the other hand, it was a shocking start for Dhaka as they were unable to put up any contest.Malinga’s first over in BPL goes for 15Sri Lanka’s bowling maestro Lasith Malinga is playing for Rangpur Riders, which is his first ever appearance in the BPL. The right-arm pacer, who has a slinging action, is always at the centre of attraction for his quality bowling in the shorter formats, and also for his hairstyle. So a loud cheer from the Sylhet crowd could be heard when Malinga came on to bowl in the sixth over of their match against Rajshahi Kings. But eventually, he conceded 15 in his first over as Rajshahi top-order batsman Rony Talukdar handed him beautifully. Rony struck two beautiful boundaries and a sixer over deep mid-wicket. But Malinga came back strongly after leaking 15 in his first over, taking took two wickets for 19 runs in his remaining three overs. And so he finished with bowling figure of 2/34.Who let the dog out?Rangpur were chasing Rajshahi’s 154 and lost an early wicket in the very first over. But suddenly the scenario turned more interesting when a stray dog entered the field in the third over. On-field umpires had no other option but to halt the game. They even had to chase the dog to help him out of the field. When the dog exited the field, play duly resumed. But the confused animal once again came back to the field as probably he could not find any exit. This time, the dog ran over to the pitch. Rajshahi captain Darren Sammy was not too impressed. The second time, the players also chased the dog and tried to force him out of the field. The scene turned out to be extremely comical. Eventually, the dog ran out of the stadium. The crowd cheered every moment and it seemed they were in the circus! With that said, it was not a happy scene for the organizers, given that it is an international tournament like the BPL.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
