Khulna thru' at Rangpur's expense
A three-wicket haul from Junaid Khan and two crucial knocks from Hasanuzzaman and Mahmudullah Riyad helped the Khulna Titans rise to the occasion and beat a seemingly dejected Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
It was a do-or-die game for Khulna as a loss would have seen them fail to make the cut for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) playoffs with a negative net run rate and just 12 points on the board. With the win in the last group game of the season however, Khulna take second spot behind Dhaka and ensure that Rangpur Riders, who earlier yesterday lost their match against Comilla Victorians by eight runs, have come to the end of their BPL campaign.
Dhaka, who had already booked their place at the top before yesterday's game, will be joined by the Khulna Titans, the Chittagong Vikings and the Rajshahi Kings in the playoffs.
First-placed Dhaka will take on Khulna in the first Qualifier tomorrow afternoon and the winner of this game will seal a place in the final on December 9. Third-placed Chittagong will take on fourth-placed Rajshahi in the Eliminator in tomorrow's evening game. The winner of the Eliminator will take on the loser of the first Qualifier in the second Qualifier on Wednesday. The winner of the second Qualifier will proceed to the final.
Batting first, the Dynamites posted 158 for seven. After the exchange, the Titans reached home with two overs in hand.
Dhaka's performance was poor. They did not look like a team that was on top of the Bangladesh Premier League. They erred in line and length and also bowled seven wides.
After Shakib Al Hasan removed Andre Fletcher in the second over, Hasanuzzaman and Abdul Majid put on a 52-run stand for the second wicket. Hasanuzzaman smashed 40 off 19 balls with three sixes and three fours. After he was dismissed by Ravi Bopara in the ninth over, Majid shared a 46-run stand with Mahmudullah for the third wicket before being bowled by Bopara in the 14th over.
Mahmudullah eventually scored 50 off 28 balls with two sixes and five fours and took the Titans to within eight runs of victory before getting out in the 18th over when he was brilliantly caught by a diving Mehedi Maruf at cover.
The wicket though did not matter much as Khulna reached home with two overs remaining.
Earlier, a 41-ball 59 from Kumar Sangakkara helped the Dhaka Dynamites post 158 for seven after electing to bat first. The Sri Lankan hit eight fours and was the top-scorer for the Dynamites.
However, none of the other batsmen managed to provide him support, as a result of which Dhaka ended up posting a below-par total. While a number of other Dhaka batsmen got starts, none of them managed to stay for too long.
Dhaka began well with Maruf and Sangakkara putting on 55 runs in the first six overs. While Sangakkara hit seven fours during that period, Maruf hit one six and a four to complement him.
The highlight of the Powerplays and Sangakkara's knock was the fourth over when he beautifully stroked Shafiul Islam for three fours. They were all taken right out of the Sri Lankan's textbook. He kept coming down the track and elegantly driving the ball to the different gaps on the field.
Things however changed after Maruf was run out in the seventh over for 16. Runs were hard to come by after that and Sangakkara eventually succumbed to the pressure when Benny Howell bowled him with the fourth ball of the 12th over.
An over later Nasir Hossain was run out as well and the Khulna Titans began to gather some momentum. After 16 overs the Dynamites were poised at 119 for three and they were looking to finish big.
However, Junaid Khan dismissed both Shakib and Seekkuge Prasanna in the 15th over and that further pegged them back. While Mosaddek Hossain fought hard with an 18-bal 20, Dhaka eventually managed to score just 37 runs in the last five overs and that led to their downfall.
Comments