Russel power trumps Gayle force
Chris Gayle smoked a 24-ball 60 to set Chattogram Challengers up for a challenging total of 164, but fellow West Indian Andre Russel’s thunderous unbeaten 54 off 22 deliveries saw Rajshahi Royals chase down the target with two wickets in hand and four balls to spare in the Second Qualifier of the Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
The win took Rajshahi to the final where they will face Khulna Tigers tomorrow.
Gayle’s explosive start at the top helped Chattogram post a challenging 164 for nine.
Gayle, who joined Chattogram ahead of the start of the final Dhaka phase of the tournament, had nothing to brag about in this edition till his blazing fifty yesterday. Gayle’s highest in this edition’s BPL prior to this match was an uncharacteristic 49-ball 38 which came against Dhaka Platoon in the Eliminator.
Gayle, the self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ who has played in all seven editions of the BPL, had made himself known as a late bloomer when it comes to BPL. The 40-year-old Jamaican, who thinks he has at least five more years more cricket left in him, showed ground for such a claim yesterday.
Gayle made his intentions very clear with the way he started the match. The T20 superstar smashed Abu Jayed for sixteen runs in the very first over he faced. Jayed, who saw was hit for two massive sixes and a boundary in that over, was taken out of the attack immediately after that.
It, however, could not stop Gayle as the left-hander kept on inflicting pain on Rajshahi bowlers. He brought up his first fifty of the edition, off just 20 balls when he smashed his fellow West Indian and Rajshahi skipper Andre Russell for a one-handed six over midwicket. He might have used half his strength but still the ball had enough wings to clear the boundary.
The Gayle carnage was, however, put to an end by Afif Hossain in the 10th over. Gayle, going for a slog over square-leg, was deceived by a quicker delivery by the young off-spinner, losing his castle in the process. The innings, featuring six fours and five sixes, came to an end in the second ball of the 10th over, but Chattogram had already had a solid platform laid, with 97 runs for the loss of three wickets.
However, much like the way their campaign went, Chattogram lost control of the innings after that blistering start. Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, who was looking dangerous, fell in the 11th over after a quick-fire 18-ball 33, which featured three fours and as many sixes.
Chattogram were running out of batsmen after that and had it not been for a valiant 25-ball 31 from Asela Gunaratne, they might not have put a challenging score to defend.
Rajshahi’s reply lost steam once they lost both their openers -- Afif Hossain and Liton Das -- within the first three overs.
Afif was the first to go, falling to Rubel Hossain for two before Liton was run out by a brilliant through from Mehedi Hasan Rana.
But Irfan Sukkur’s 42-ball 45 revived the chase before Russel ignited it with seven sixes and two fours to steal victory from a seemingly unsalvagable situation.
SCORES IN BRIEF
CHATTOGRAM CHALLENGERS: 164 for 9 in 20 overs (Gayle 60, Mahmudullah 33, Gunaratne 31; Irfan 2-16, Nawaz 2-13)
RAJSHAHI ROYALS: 165 for 8 in 19.2 overs (Sukkur 45, Russell 54 not out; Rubel 2-32, Emrit 2-41)
Result: Rajshahi won by 2 wickets.
Player-of-the-match: Andre Russell.
