Contrasting wins for Cumilla, Chattogram
The Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League kicked off with two contrasting matches on the opening day in Mirpur yesterday, with Chattogram Challengers edging past Sylhet Thunder in a competitive first game and Cumilla Warriors thrashing Rangpur Rangers in the second match under lights.
In the first match, local batsmen Mohammad Mithun and Imrul Kayes stole the show at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Mithun hit a career-best unbeaten 84 off 48 balls and, with the help of a 96-run fourth-wicket stand with skipper Mosaddek Hossain, lifted Sylhet to 162 for four. Sylhet seemed to be on course for a winning start when Nazmul Islam took two wickets in successive balls to send back Chattogram opener Junaid Siddique and Nasir Hossain in the fourth over.
That was when Imrul stepped in and, after two more wickets that brought Chattogram down to 64 for four, settled nerves with a 94-run stand with Chadwick Walton. Imrul scored 61 off 38, while Walton remained unbeaten on 49 as Chattogram won by five wickets and an over to spare.
In the second match, under lights, Cumilla Warriors sped to a substantial total of 173 for seven against Rangpur. For 18 overs, it seemed that Cumilla would manage much less as they reached 124 for seven with two overs remaining.
Cumilla captain Dasun Shanaka then hit Mustafizur Rahman for four consecutive sixes in the 19th over, before hitting Junaid Khan for three sixes and a four in the final over as the last two overs produced 49 runs. Shanaka finished with an unbeaten 75off just 31 balls.
In reply, Rangpur Rangers were bundled out for an abysmal 68 in just 14 overs as Cumilla won by 105 runs. Cumilla pacer Al-Amin Hossain took three wickets for 14 runs while Soumya Sarkar and Sunzamul Islam took two each. For Rangpur, opener Mohammad Naim top-scored with 17, one of just three double-digit scores.
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