Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20, Nov 8
Khulna Titans 138 -4 (Klinger 47*, Taijul 3-19)
Sylhet Sixers 135-5 (Nasir 47*, Mahmudullah 2-12)
Result: Khulna won by six wickets
Player of the Match: Mahmudullah Riyad
Khulna Titans beat the table toppers Sylhet Sixers by six wickets to grab their first win in the fifth Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Twenty20 tournament at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday (Nov 8).
Replying to Sylhet's innings of 135, Khulna sailed home scoring 138 for 4 in 18 overs to break the all-win record of Sylhet so far with three consecutive victories.
Michael Klinger played a perfect innings of 47* off 36 balls, including five boundaries, when sharing an unbeaten partnership of 45 off 4.4 overs with Carlos Brathwaite in the 5th wicket stand which stayed till the end, starting from 93/4 in 13.2 overs after skipper Mahmudullah's dismissal.
Mahmudullah scored 27 off 23 balls, including one four and one six, while Brathwaite (23* off 16b; 2x6), Rilee Rossouw (19 off 17b; 3x4) and Chadwick Walton (11 off 7b; 1x4; 1x6) were the other double digit scorers for Khulna, who lost their first match by 65 runs against defending champions Dhaka Dynamites.
Taijul Islam captured three wickets for 19 runs while Ross Whiteley took another one for 10 runs.
Sent into bat first, Sylhet finished on 135 for 5 in 20 overs where skipper Nasir Hossain played an unbeaten innings of 47* off 35 balls, including five boundaries. In the 5th wicket stand, Nasir shared a partnership of 47 off 7.2 balls with Ross Whiteley, who got out on 124/5 in 18.3 overs, scoring 27 off 23 balls, including one four and one six.
Khulna dismissed two of Sylhet’s top order batsmen -- Andre Fletcher and Sabbir Rahman -- with the score on 20 off 3.3 overs. Opener Upul Tharanga held his nerve up to 8.1 overs before skipper Mahmudullah sent him to pavilion on 51/3.
Then, Nasir came into crease to pair Danushka Gunathilaka, but Mahmudullah soon got rid of Gunathilaka on 67/4 in 11.1 overs. Tharanga (26 off 24b; 3x4) and Gunathilaka (26 off 25 b; 3x4; 1x6) were the other double digit scorers for Sylhet.
Mahmudullah and Jofra Archer got two wickets each for 12 and 25 runs respectively, while Shafiul Islam took one for 20 runs.
Despite the day's loss, Sylhet Sixers hold on to the top slot of the table collecting six points from four encounters. Khulna have come one step up from bottom place with two points from two matches.
The seven-team tournament's campaign at Sylhet venue ended with the day's match and it will move to Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka for the next 16 matches beginning Nov 11.
