Pacer Mustafizur Rahman shone with the bowl to help his side Rangpur Riders win against Sylhet Thunder on Monday but the highlight of the low scoring Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League match was bloopers in the field with dropped catches.
Mustafiz’s 3/10 was the instrumental of restricting Sylhet for 133/9 before Cameron Delport’s swashbuckling unbeaten half century propelled Rangpur to an easy seven wicket victory at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Both Rangpur and Sylhet had come into the game with only one win each playing six and seven matches respectively.
Chasing 134 runs, Rangpur got off with a shocker losing opener Shane Watson for one from Ebadat Hossain yorker. Former Australia all-rounder Watson had joined the team earlier this week with high expectation but having scored only six runs in the match, with five from the previous game, the team management shall not be pleased.
The early fall of wicket for Rangpur was recovered with 99 runs between opener Mohammad Naim and Delport of the second wicket. Delport played the aggressor as he took toll of the opposition bowlers particularly of the two off-spinners Sohag Gazi and Nayeem Sheikh.
Rangpur Rangers won by 7 wickets.#BBPL #RRvST#BPLseason7 pic.twitter.com/Yy55MiJ37L
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) December 30, 2019
Delport perished against pacer Naveen Ul Haq on a 28-ball 63 involving six boundaries and five over boundaries on the 13th over of the innings with Rangpur reeling on 104 for two.
Rnapur lost one more wicket, in Lewis Gregory on four, before Mohammad Nabi added 18 runs to the tally facing 12 deliveries as Naim anchored to unbeaten 38 in 50 balls.
Sylhet’s struggle continued as the side was sent to bat first and find only one batsman score more than 20 runs following failure from the openers. Wicket-keeper batsman Mohmmad Mithun bounced back strong from a duck scored in the previous game as he added 62 runs to the board in 47 balls with four boundaries and two over boundaries.
Mustafiz, who was adjudged man of the match, bagged three wickets for Rangpur and shred criticism over his rhythm. Mustafiz had started the tournament on a low key but made a fine comeback with eight wickets in three games.
He has now 12 wickets from seven matches, one short of highest wicket taker till date Mehedi Hasan Rana. The Chattogram Challengers pacer has grabbed 13 wickets from six matches so far.
25TH MATCH, STvRR
SYLHET THUNDER INNINGS R B
Fletcher c Delport b Sunny 0 2
J Charles c Nabi b Mukidul 9 11
Mithun c Sunny b Mustafizur 62 47
Mosaddek (c) run out (Naim) 15 23
Rutherford c Naim b Gregory 16 9
Milon c Gregory b Nabi 1 4
Gazi c Watson b Mustafizur 12 12
Nayeem c Al-Amin b Mustafizur 8 8
Monir Hossain run out (Nabi) 0 1
Naveen-ul-Haq not out 0 3
Ebadat Hossain not out 0 0
Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 6) 10
Total (20 overs) 133/9
Fall Of Wickets: 1-0 (Andre Fletcher, 0.2 ov), 2-16 (Johnson Charles, 3.3 ov), 3-73 (Mosaddek Hossain, 11.4 ov), 4-107 (Sherfane Rutherford, 14.3 ov), 5-111 (Nazmul Hossain Milon, 15.5 ov), 6-111 (Mohammad Mithun, 16.1 ov), 7-131 (Nayeem Hasan, 19.1 ov), 8-131 (Sohag Gazi, 19.2 ov), 9-131 (Monir Hossain, 19.3 ov)
Bowling
Arafat Sunny 4-1-24-1, Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-10-3, Mukidul Islam 4-0-43-1, Mohammad Nabi 4 -0-31-1 L Gregory 4-0-21-1
RANGPUR RANGERS INNINGS R B
Mohammad Naim not out 38 50
Watson (c) b Ebadat Hossain 1 6
Delport c Nayeem b Naveen-ul-Haq 63 28
L Gregory c Fletcher b Naveen-ul-Haq 4 9
Mohammad Nabi not out 18 12
Extras (lb 5, nb 1, w 4) 10
Total (17.2 Overs) 134/3
Fall Of Wickets: 1-5 (Shane Watson, 1.5 ov), 2-104 (Cameron Delport, 12.2 ov), 3-112 (Lewis Gregory, 14.3 ov)
Bowling
Naveen-ul-Haq 4-0-13-2 , Ebadat Hossain 3-0-12-1, Nayeem Hasan 4-0-45-0, Sohag Gazi 2-0-22-0 SE Rutherford 2-0-22-0, Monir Hossain 2.2-0-15-0
Rangpur won by 7 wickets
MoM: Mustafizur Rahman (RR)
