The clash of the heavyweights became a one-sided affair as the Rangpur Riders beat the defending champions Fortune Barishal by eight wickets in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday.
Barishal managed to put on only 124 runs鈥攖he lowest so far in this edition.聽 Then, Saif Hassan struck a 46-ball 62 and Alex Hales scored 49 in 41 deliveries to propel Rangpur to score 128-2 with five overs remaining, ensuring their third win in a row.聽
After put to bat first, Barishal lost three wickets inside the powerplay, including captain Tamim Iqbal, who looked comfortable until he decided to charge down the ground off Nahid Rana but got castled on 28 off 18.聽
National team captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who reportedly stepped down from the leadership of the T20 team, failed again as he only scored nine off 10 balls.聽
Despite having a long batting lineup, Barishal鈥檚 middle order failed to stand up, as the highest partnership was of 31 off 30 between Mushfiqur Rahim and Kyle Mayers.聽
Then they lost six for just 32 runs and got all out with 10 balls remaining in the innings.聽
Khushdil Shah was the standout bowler for Rangpur, taking three while Rana and Iftikhar Ahmed picked two wickets apiece.
Rangpur鈥檚 innings began with turmoil as younster Iqbal Hossain instilled some hope in them when he took the wickets of his Under-19 captain Azizul Hakim and Tawfique Khan in his opening over.
But other than that, Barishal got little to cheer as Saif and Hales eased past Rangpur鈥檚 total.聽 Barishal fielders also helped the cause as they dropped multiple chances in the field.聽
Saif reached his eighth fifty of his career in 38 balls and hitting six fours and three sixes with Hales, forming an unbeaten partnership of 113 runs from 81 balls.
