Rangpur Riders chased down a challenging 182-run target to defeat Khulna Titans during their BPL 6 match at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla national cricket stadium on Tuesday.
Rangpur’s top order clicked during the chase as Alex Hales (55 off 29 balls), AB de Villiers (41 off 25 balls) and Chris Gayle (55 off 40) scored significantly to seal the win.
Six runs were needed in the last over and in-form Rilee Rossouw hit the winning six in the third ball of the over to reach the target.
Earlier, Khulna scored 181 for six in their 20 overs riding on Nazmul Hossian Shanto’s 48 and an attacking innings from David Wiese (35 off 15 balls). Brendon Taylor scored 32 while captain Mahmudullah made 29.
Farhad Reza took four wickets and was adjudged man-of-the-match.
Rangpur Riders won by 6 wickets Against Khulna Titans #RRvKT#BPL #BPLseason6 pic.twitter.com/FyIaKboAU7
— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) January 22, 2019
Key moments
Shanto gets some runs, finally
Khulna batsman Nazmul Hossin Shanto finally got some runs under his belt as he scored 48 off 35 balls with two fours and three sixes. Shanto, who was retained by the Titans this season, was struggling with the bat as he scored 1, 13, 6, 11, and 1 in his last five innings.
Farhad Reza gets two in two to halt Khulna
Experienced Farhad Reza bowled well against Khulna as he took four wickets in his four overs conceding 32 runs. Reza first took the wicket of in-form opener Junaid Siddique in the fourth over. Khulna batted well in the middle part and were cruising towards a possible 200-run mark. The score was 134 for three after 15 overs with well-set Mahmudullah and Shanto batting. But Reza got them out in back to back deliveries in 16th over to halt Khulna’s charge towards a big total. Khulna eventually scored 181 but could have scored 15-20 runs more if those two set batsman stayed till the end. It was a good bowling effort from Reza.
Hales’ breezy fifty
Chasing 182, opener Alex Hales made a quick fire innings and picked up his first fifty of the season off twenty six balls. The right-hander scored 55 off 29 balls eventually with eight fours and three sixes before being bowled by spinner Yasir Shah in the eighth over. Rangpur made 58 runs in their first power play and surprisingly Gayle scored only 4 runs among them off 10 balls while Hales scored 54 off 26. It was an unusual scene for Gayle to not be the aggressor while batting and his partner doing the big hitting. Hales’ innings set the tempo of the Rangpur chase and they chased the runs pretty comfortably in the end.
De Villiers joins the party
AB de Villiers, the South African batsman played some delightful shots after coming to the crease at number three. De Villiers’ aggressive batting during the run chase kept the scoreboard ticking just the way Hales did. The right-hander scored 41 off 21 balls with three fours and four sixes. He was trapped in front against Mahmudullah and his entertaining innings ended in thirteenth over. Interestingly, Gayle once again provided a supporting role while AB was scoring freely. It was a trademark T20 innings in the end from Mr. 360 during his first outing in the BPL and for the Rangpur Riders.
Playing XI of Khulna Titans and Rangpur Riders #KTvRR
— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) January 22, 2019
UCB Bangladesh Premier League T20 2019 - 6th edition,
Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka.#BPL #BPLseason6 pic.twitter.com/GXuN6drChR
What this result means
Khulna are at the bottom of the points table with just two points and they will face Sylhet Sixers on Wednesday. Rangpur have now won four matches and acquired eight points and they will face Chittagong Vikings on Friday.
Khulna Titans INNINGS R B
Al-Amin c Mithun b Mashrafe 4 6
Junaid c Rossouw b Farhad 13 12
Taylor c Nahidul b Gayle 32 20
Najmul c & b Farhad 48 35
Mahmudullah c Nazmul b Farhad 29 20
D Wiese not out 35 15
Ariful c Hales b Farhad 6 10
Yasir Shah not out 5 2
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 7) 9
TOTAL (6 Wickets,20 Overs) 181
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Al-Amin, 0.6 ov), 2-29 (Junaid Siddique, 3.6 ov), 3-78 (BRM Taylor, 9.1 ov), 4-134 (Mahmudullah, 15.2 ov), 5-134 (Najmul Hossain Shanto, 15.3 ov), 6-152 (Ariful Haque, 18.2 ov)
Bowling
Mashrafe Mortaza 4-0-17-1, Sohag Gazi 2-0-30-0, Farhad Reza 4-0-32-4, Shafiul Islam 4-0-40-0, Nazmul Islam 4-0-37-0, CH Gayle 2-0-23-1
Rangpur Riders INNINGS R B
Gayle c Wiese b Junaid 55 40
Hales b Yasir 55 29
AB de Villiers lbw b Mahmudullah 41 25
Mithun st Taylor b Yasir 15 19
Rossouw not out 10 3
Nahidul Islam not out 1 1
Extras (w 6) 6
TOTAL (4 Wickets, 19.3 Overs) 183
Fall of wickets: 1-78 (AD Hales, 7.4 ov), 2-121 (AB de Villiers, 12.2 ov), 3-171 (CH Gayle, 18.4 ov), 4-176 (Mohammad Mithun, 19.1 ov)
Bowling
Subashis Roy 4-0-30-0, Junaid Khan 4-0-37-1, D Wiese 4-0-31-0, Taijul Islam 1-0-10-0, Yasir Shah 3.3-0-47-2, Mahmudullah 3-0-28-1
Rangpur Riders won by 6 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
MoM: Farhad Reza (RR)
