MOMENTS

 

Chittagong Vikings skipper Luke Ronchi is a New Zealander by birth, but before he played for New Zealand he had a spell with the Australian national team and seemed to have picked up some Aussie habits, namely going after the opposition captain to weaken the enemy. Dhaka Dynamites skipper Shakib Al Hasan came into yesterday's match with a five-wicket haul in Dhaka, so Ronchi seemed to bring the Aussie out in him when Shakib was bowling. The left-arm spinner bowled the second and fifth overs, and in the latter Ronchi's mindset rubbed off on Anamul Haque. The local batsman hit the icon for a six over extra cover and then handed it over to his captain. Two sixes over long off with a four over cover in between flowed off Ronchi's bat, setting Shakib on way to his most expensive T20 figures of one for 51 from four overs. It speaks to Dhaka's strength and Chittagong's weakness that not even that was enough.

 

 

Khulna Titans' six-hitter Carlos Brathwaite came out to bat in a situation tailor-made for him. His team was on 163 in 16 overs and it was time to launch, no two ways about it. He ended with a 14-ball 34 but he was given a helping hand by Rajshahi Kings initially. He had to face the dangerous Mustafizur Rahman first up in the 17th over, and should have been on his way back without a run to his name but anyone who has followed Mustafizur would have known that he would not catch the steep caught-and-bowled chance that Brathwaite offered off a miscue. In the next ball, Brathwaite scooped and Mohammad Sami at short fine leg could have stopped the ball inside the boundary, but he inexplicably gave up on the chase. What should have been a three turned into a four and that meant that the West Indian was on strike. He teed off next ball and it went up miles, only to just land over the ropes in front of the sightscreen. The last ball was more typical – a straight hit that landed behind the sightscreen. Rajshahi had their moment and let it slip, and Brathwaite did not need a second invitation.