BPL returns today

Chittagong Kings wicketkeeper-batsman Brendan Taylor (R) kicks a football during their practice session at the Academy Ground in Mirpur yesterday, ahead of today's BPL T20 clash against the Khulna Royal Bengals.Photo: STAR

The second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will continue after a day's break with the Chittagong Kings facing off against the Khulna Royal Bengals and the Sylhet Royals taking on the Rangpur Riders.
Chittagong will go into the game without New Zealand's Jacob Oram who will be flying back home due to family-related issues, informed Chittagong officials yesterday. Oram's place will be taken by the South African David Miller who reached the capital yesterday.
Chitatgong Kings are currently in fourth place with six points and will be satisfied with nothing less than a win against last-placed Khulna today. Brendan Taylor, whose performance has propelled the Kings in this edition of the BPL was confident when he spoke at a press conference at Mirpur yesterday and said that they were aiming to reach the semifinals.
“There's still a lot of cricket to play so it's important to try and keep that momentum going. As a team it's important that we all come together now and look forward to hopefully a semifinal berth,” said Taylor.
The Zimbabwean who has the highest batting average of the tournament believed that adjusting to pitches early in the game was the key to scoring in the wickets in Dhaka. “It's always a challenge to play in Bangladesh, especially with all the spinners, but I have played quite a few games here and I have a better understanding [of the wickets] at the moment,” he said.
Khulna's chances of a possible semifinal berth on the other hand looks slim as they have won only two out of the eight games they have played so far. The manner in which they have played their last few games suggest their over-dependence on skipper Shahriar Nafees who incidentally, is the highest run-scorer of the tournament so far.
The late game will see Rangpur Riders trying to make amends after their crushing 88-run loss against Dhaka in the last game. While the Riders began the tournament well, they have slowly slumped to sixth in the table with six points in eight matches. They will have to beat Sylhet to stand any chance of making it to the next round.