Rangpur keep Comilla to below-par 122
Defending champions Comilla Victorians seem set to continue on their winless path after being restricted to a paltry 122 for five by Rangpur Riders in their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong today.
Fresh off a victory over Barisal Bulls the day before, Rangpur Riders chose to field and immediately put pressure on the struggling Victorians through tidy bowling from openers Shohag Gazi and Anwar Ali, who kept Liton Das and Imrul Kayes to just eight after two overs. The pressure told immediately as Imrul advanced down the track to Gazi but was trapped leg-before when the bowler dropped it short and spun it past the flashing blade.
Anwar bowled another quiet over, and Arafat Sunny replaced Gazi to give away just three runs in the fifth, which meant that Comilla were 17 for one after five overs. The lack of runs created a run-out in the last ball of the sixth over, when Ahmed Shehzad called through a hesitant Liton after playing Rubel Hossain to mid off, but the throw beat the non-striker to the striker’s end.
Shehzad and Marlon Samuels then seemed to concentrate on avoiding a capitulation and played sensibly to put on a 64-run stand in 10.2 overs. Shehzad was the aggressor in the partnership, hitting two consecutive boundaries in the 12th over bowled by Ziaur Rahman and a six off Rubel that took him to a 50 off the 41st ball he faced in the 15th over.
He was soon dismissed for a 45-ball 52 when, in the 17th over, he skied a lofted drive off Anwar to Shahid Afridi at cover. From 85 for three, Samuels -- then on 20 off 30 -- lifted his scoring rate, hitting a six off Rubel in the 18th over and punishing Anwar for a six and a four in the 19 th.
He reached his 50 off 43 balls with a single off Rubel in the last over, but there was not much more joy for him or for Comilla as he was caught behind off the penultimate ball for 52. Rubel then finished things off in style by getting Sohail Tanvir out in the same fashion to finish with figures of two for 27 in four overs.
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