Rangpur Riders win by 8 wickets
Rangpur Riders posted a crushing win over Dhaka Dynamites in 34th match of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Monday.
AB de Villiers scored 100 off 50 balls and Alex Hales scored 85 off 53 runs for Rangpur Riders.
Earlier, Dhaka Dynamites scored 186 runs in 20 overs after choosing to bat first.
The Riders chased it down with 10 balls to play (189/2 in 18.2 overs) with the help of AB and Hales. AB remained unbeaten on exactly 100 off 50 balls with eight fours and six sixes while Hales remained unbeaten hitting 85 off 53 deliveries with eight fours and three sixes.
The Riders got a mighty blow at the start of the chase as they lost first two wickets of Chris Gayle and Rilee Rossouw in just five runs. Both of the batsmen were hunted by Andre Russell in successive deliveries. But AB and Hales took over since then and came off the field with a stunning win by eight wickets.
It was the fourth consecutive win for the Riders and overall sixth win which helped them climb the top place in the BPL points table surpassing Chittagong Vikings who beat Khulna Titans earlier in the day to ride on the top spot.
Rony Talukdar was the best batsman for the Dynamites as he struck 52 off 32 balls with six fours and one six.
They scored 64 during the power play losing the wicket of Hazratullah Zazai. He fell for 17 off 18 balls. Before being dismissed by Farhad Reza, Zazai accompanied Sunil Narine to add 35 in the opening stand.
Narine fell for 28 before Shakib Al Hasan and Rony posted 54 in the third wicket stand. The Dynamites passed the 100-run mark in 12 overs. They were easily going to pass 200-run mark as well.
But, like Zazai and Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell also failed to maintain their good start. Shakib fell for 25 off 12 balls while Russell contributed 14 off eight balls. Both of the all-rounders managed a good start but failed to make a big impact.
However, Rony was firm in the middle and struck a watchful fifty. He ended as the fifth batsman scoring 52 off 32 balls. Keiron Pollard, the West Indian all-rounder of the Dynamites, was the last batsman to show some strength. He remained unbeaten scoring 37 off 23 balls with five fours and one six.
In the continuous run-fest in Chattogram, Farhad Reza took two wickets for the Riders while Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Shafiul Islam and Shahidul Islam took one wicket each for them.
The Riders will play their next game on Tuesday against Rajshahi Kings and Dhaka Dynamites will face hosts Chittagong Vikings on Wednesday.
Dhaka Dynamites (Playing XI): Hazratullah Zazai, Sunil Narine, Rony Talukdar, Shakib Al Hasan (C), Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Shuvagata Hom, Nurul Hasan (W), Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Qazi Onik.
Rangpur Riders (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, AB de Villiers, Mohammad Mithun (W), Nahidul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Farhad Reza, Nazmul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Shahidul Islam.
