Mushfiq navigates Vikings to top

Chittagong Vikings captain Mushfiqur Rahim continued his red hot form with bat in the Bangladesh Premier League as he scored another half century to beat Rajshahi Kings by six wickets on Wednesday at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.The only centurion of the tournament Laurie Evans made 74 to help Rajshahi post 157/5 in 20 overs but Mushfiqur played an unbeaten innings of 64 runs off 46 balls to chase down the target with two balls to spare and took his side to the top of the table.    

Chittagong Vikings won by 6 wickets against Rajshahi Kings #CVvRK#BPL #BPLseason6 pic.twitter.com/vy3fSSXTx0

— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) January 23, 2019

Key Moments

Soumya back in opening, scores 6

Rajshahi picked Soumya Sarkar for their match against Chittagong and the left hander was sent to open the innings for the first time in the season. Soumya played five matches this season for the Kings and batted in number three and four positions. He scored 2, 18, 0, 11 and 4 in his last five innings. The left hander was given the chance to open the innings, his preferred batting position. But he scored just 3 runs in 6 balls and failed to make an impact as he was caught by the wicketkeeper against the bowling of Robbie Frylinck.  

Playing XI of Chittagong Vikings and Rajshahi Kings. #RKvCV

Watch BPL LIVE on GTV & Rabbithole App#BPL #BPLSeason6 pic.twitter.com/9GCVzwnNds

— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) January 23, 2019

Evans the savior again

Rajshahi opener Laurie Evans, who made this BPL season’s maiden century in the last match, carried his momentum with the bat and scored another brilliant knock at the top order. Despite losing regular wickets in the top, Evans anchored the innings and scored 74 off 56 balls with eight fours and two sixes. The right hander got out in the eighteenth over, just after hitting a six against Khaled Ahmed.  

Mushfiq-Mosaddek lead the chase

Dependable batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and Mosaddek Hossain once again built a solid partnership while chasing 158, just like the last match. Mosaddek came to bat when Nazibullah Zadran got out in 11th over. Since then, Mushfiq and Mosaddek formed a 78-run partnership for the fifth wicket which sealed the win. Mosaddek batted impressively as he scored 43 off 26 balls and in-form Mushfiq scored 64 off 46 balls.

Jonker drops a sitter

The match was evenly balanced as Rajshahi needed 25 runs of 18 balls. Mustafizur Rahman came to bowl in the eighteenth over and conceded seven runs in five balls. So now 18 was needed off 13. Mushfiq connected the ball well in the sixth ball but it went straight to deep mid wicket where Christian Jonker was fielding. It looked like a straight forward catch but Jonker dropped a sitter in the boundary. Not only did he drop the catch, the ball bounced from his hand and went for a six. That’s was a terrible miss for the Kings at a crucial moment of the match and they eventually lost the match.

What this result means

Chittagong now move to the top of the points table with 12 points from their seven matches.  Vikings will face Rangpur in their next match on Friday. Rajshahi have now won four and lost four among their eight matches and will face Sylhet Sixers on Friday as well. 

Rajshahi Kings Innings

                                                            R             B

LJ Evans c Mushfiq b Khaled       74           56

Soumya c Shahzad b Frylinck       3              6

Marshall c & b Khaled                     1              7

Doeschate c Yasir b Jayed            28           20

Zakir c Yasir b Sunzamul                5              7

Jonker not out                                  36           20

Miraz (c) not out                              10           4

Extras                                                   0

TOTAL (20 overs)                              157/5 

Did not bat: Qais Ahmad, Arafat Sunny, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamrul Islam Rabbi

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Soumya Sarkar, 2.1 ov), 2-8 (Marshall Ayub, 3.5 ov), 3-62 (RN ten Doeschate, 10.6 ov), 4-72 (Zakir Hasan, 12.5 ov), 5-119 (LJ Evans, 17.5 ov)

Bowling: Frylinck 4-0-31-1, Nayeem 2-0-16-0, Khaled 4-0-30-2, Sunzamul 4-0-19-1, Jayed 4-0-43-1, Delport 2-0-18-0

Chittagong Vikings Innings

Chittagong Vikings Innings          R             B

Shahzad c Soumya b Sunny         25           17

Delport lbw b Miraz                        1              3

Yasir st Zakir b Sunny                     3              7

Mushfiq (c) not out                        64           46

Zadran c Jonker b Sunny              23           19

Mosaddek not out                          43           26

Extras                                                 0

TOTAL (19.4 Overs)                         159/4 

Yet to bat: Nayeem Hasan, R Frylinck, Sunzamul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Abu Jayed

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (CS Delport, 1.2 ov), 2-29 (Yasir Ali, 4.1 ov), 3-30 (Mohammad Shahzad, 4.5 ov), 4-71 (Najibullah Zadran, 10.5 ov)

Bowling: Rabbi 3-0-39-0, Miraz 3-0-25-1, Sunny 4-0-22-3, Mustafiz 3.4-0-32-0, Qais 4-0-21-0, Soumya 2-0-20-0

Chittagong Vikings won by 6 wickets

MoM: Musfiqur Rahim (CHV)