Sabbir’s 62 in 39-ball in vain as Frylinck stuns Cumilla
After losing two games in a row, Khulna Tigers poste their sixth win in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Cumilla Warriors by 34 runs at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
With this win, Khulna Tigers amassed 12 points with two matches to play while Warriors collected 10 points with one match to go.
Replying to Tigers’ 179 for two in 20 overs, Warriors tumbled for 145 all-out in 18.2 overs. Sabbir Rahman, who was out of the playing XI in the last game of the Warriors, smashed his first fifty of the season- 62, but most of the other batsmen failed to come up with a match-winning knock.
South African opener Stiaan van Zyl fell as the first batsman scoring 12 off 13 with one four and one six. Warriors captain David Malan came to bat at number three and posted only one run off four balls before falling prey to veteran pacer Shafiul Islam.
After losing two wickets, Soumya Sarkar and Yasir Ali played some brilliant shots around the wicket but that was not enough for the Warriors to chase down a big total. Soumya fell for 22 off 17 balls with two fours and one six while Yasir posted 27 off 15 with one four and two sixes.
South African all-rounder Robbie Frylinck bagged five wickets conceding 16 runs in 4 overs with one maiden. Mohammad Amir and Shahidul Islam scalped two wickets each conceding 18 and 34 runs in 3.2 and 4 overs respectively.
Earlier, Warriors won the toss and sent Khulna Tigers to bat first. They posted 71 runs in the first wicket stand comprising Najmul Hossain Shanto - 38 off 29 balls with four fours and one six, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz - 39 off 39 balls with two fours and two sixes.
Inside 94 runs, Khulna Tigers lost both of their openers. In the unbeaten third wicket stand, Rilee Rossouw and Khulna captain Mushfiqur Rahim posted 85 runs to guide a challenging total of 179 runs for two in 20 overs.
Rilee remained unbeaten on 71 off 36 with six fours and four sixes while Mushfiqur posted 24 off 17 with two fours.
Soumya Sarkar and David Wiese took one wicket each.
Both the teams will face each other again on January 10 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
