Shakib makes it 3 in 3

An all-round performance from Shakib Al Hasan and a fluent half-century by Luke Wright at the top of the innings gave the Dhaka Gladiators a 13-run victory over Duronto Rajshahi in their Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 match at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna yesterday. Shakib, who scored a quickfire 37 off 21 balls in his team's first innings total of 156 for eight, and finished with figures of 1 for 18 at the end of four overs with the ball, was adjudged the man-of-the-match.
The victory puts Dhaka at the top of the table with six points.
With 75 required in the last eight overs and with eight wickets in hand, Rajshahi needed to up the rate and while attempting to do so lost the crucial wicket of Tamim Iqbal, caught behind off Shakib. Tamim's wicket dried up the boundaries and the required run-rate continued to mount. In the last five overs Rajshahi needed an improbable 63 runs to win with the batsmen at the crease, Ziaur Rahman and Simon Katich, struggling to put bat to ball.
Some fireworks in overs 17 and 18, which yielded 25 runs, brought the equation down to 32 required of 12 balls. However, Shakib conceded only seven runs in the penultimate over which meant that Rajshahi required 25 of the last over. They could manage only eleven of those.
Earlier, Dhaka began their innings with a flurry of boundaries as opener Luke Wright and Shakib Al Hasan shared a 79-run stand for the second wicket in 39 balls and propelled the Gladiators to a solid 93 for 1 at the end of the first ten overs.
Shakib was the more aggressive of the two as he smacked Ben Edmondson, playing his first game for Rajshahi in the competition, for four boundaries in his first over. The first four was hit straight over the bowler's head, the second slashed behind point, the third delivery was lofted over the bowler while the fourth one was a slower ball smartly guided to the third man fence. The rampage didn't just stop there. The all-rounder launched Taijul Islam for two 4s and a six in the very next over.
Following Shakib's blitz, it was Luke Wright's turn to join the party and he too attacked the bowlers at will. He first hit Edmondson for a six over long-on and then dispatched Simon Katich for three fours in the ninth over. Wright got to his half-century in the 11th over with a four through short fine leg off Moeen Ali before getting out to him in the same over.
The very next over saw Shakib get bowled by Naeem Islam Jr and that's when the game turned. The Gladiators scored only 50 runs off the last eight overs. Quick wickets towards the end of the innings, courtesy of some good bowling by the spinners, especially Moeen Ali who finished with figures of 3-19 in four, restricted Dhaka to 156 for 8.
SCORES IN BRIEF
DHAKA GLADIATORS: 156 for 8 (Wright 51, Shakib 37, Anamul 12, Cobb 16 not out; Monir 2-22, Moeen 3-19)
DURONTO RAJSHAHI: 143 for 3 (Tamim 57, Coventry 16, Katich 33 not out, Ziaur 25 not out; Shakib 1-18)
Result: Dhaka Gladiators won by 13 runs.
Player-of-the-match: Shakib Al Hasan.