Rangpur Riders beat Khulna Tigers by eight runs in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 on Monday (Jan 13) to remain unbeaten in the tournament, and secured a playoff spot. Chasing a modest 187, Khulna Tigers were restricted to 178/9 in the stipulated 20 overs. Opting to bat first at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Rangpur Riders scored 186/5 in their 20 overs riding on Iftekhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah’s brilliant fourth-wicket partnership.
Playing for a seventh consecutive win, Rangpur lost two wickets before the sixth over. They even scored less than run-a-ball in the powerplay. Tawfique Khan gave them some sort of momentum, however, he too departed in the 11th over scoring 36 off 30 balls. Tawfique hit four boundaries and one maximum before departing as Rangpur were reduced to 70/3. Then Iftekhar and Khushdil added 115 runs for the fourth wicket in just 57 balls to take Rangpur to a good total.
Khushdil was the primary aggressor scoring 73 off just 35 balls. He hit four boundaries and six towering maximums during his innings. Iftekhar, on the other end, bagged 43 off 36 balls hitting five boundaries.
Hasan Mahmud, broke the partnership in the last over. He bagged a brace while Abu Hider also bagged a brace for Khulna.
In reply, Khulna had a quick start thanks to Darwish Rasooli who scored 17 before departing. Skipper Mehidy Hasan then built a 61-run partnership with opener Naim Sheikh. Mehidy was the second batter to depart scoring 39 off just 24 balls hitting three boundaries and two maximums.
Naim continued playing in his way to take Khulna to a comfortable place. He scored 58 off 41 balls.
Afif Hossain departed in the 18th over, though Khulna were still needing 22 to win. He smashed 29 off just 15 balls before departing.
Mahedi Haasan conceded only four runs in the 18th over and that was the turning point of the game.
Akif Javed came in to bowl the penultimate over, conceded only six runs, leaving Khulna needing 12 to win in the final over.
Saifuddin bowled the last over, and he successfully defended to contribute Rangpur’s seventh consecutive win.
Khulna managed to score only 11 runs in the final three overs losing six wickets including a three-wicket final over.
For Rangpur, Akif Javed picked up three wickets while Saifuddin and Mahedi bagged a brace each.
