Chattogram ace run fest
It rained fours and sixes in Chattogram as the Chattogram Challengers posted 238 for four, the highest score of the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL), which Cumilla Warriors threatened to chase down before falling 16 runs short at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.
It was also the second highest score in the tournament’s history, falling one short of Rangpur Riders’ 239 for four against Chittagong Vikings last season at the same ground.
Cumilla’s Dawid Malan set the cat amongst Chattogram’s pigeons with a 38-ball 84 that kept Cumilla in the hunt. Skipper Dasun Shanaka then hit 37 off 21 and Abu Hider blasted 28 off 10 balls, but the mammoth total was always going to be difficult to overcome after Malan was dismissed in the 15th over. Promising young pacer Mehedi Hasan Rana bowled brilliantly amidst all the strokeplay to finish with four wickets for 28 runs.
Earlier, Chattogram’s total was built on two blistering fifties from interim skipper Imrul Kayes – taking over from the injured Mahmudullah Riyad -- and Chadwick Walton.
Imrul and opener Avishka Fernando strung together an 85-run second-wicket stand before the latter was dismissed in the 11th over for a 27-ball 48. Imrul carried on and scored his second fifty of the tournament.
Even Imrul’s dismissal in the 14th over after a stroke-filled 41-ball 62 could not stop the flow of runs as Walton and Nurul Hasan plundered 54 runs in the last two overs. Walton remained unbeaten on a 27-ball 71 while Nurul scored an unbeaten 15-ball 25.
The day’s first match was a rather dull contest as Khulna Tigers romped to an eight-wicket victory by chasing down the modest 137 for nine posted by Rangpur Rangers with 45 balls to spare.
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