Riders pull off last-ball win

Rangpur Riders batsman Danza Hyatt scampers home for the winning run off a leg-bye during their thrilling last-ball win over Chittagong Kings in the BPL T20 match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. Photo: STAR

The Rangpur Riders overhauled a 161-run target to beat the Chittagong Kings by four wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday in a match which saw the balance of power shift frequently between the sides. The win keeps Rangpur's hopes of making it through to the next round alive.
With 37 required from the last three overs and two new batsmen at the crease, it seemed as though Rangpur were down and out. However, brilliant cameos from Danza Hyatt and Kevin O'Brien took the Riders home in a last-ball thriller.
Only seven runs were scored in the 18th over, in which Nasir Hossain was caught in the deep after scoring a boundary off the second ball. The wicket brought Hyatt to the crease and he immediately made an impact with two swivelling boundaries off Kevon Cooper in the 19th. Ten runs off the Cooper over meant that Rangpur required another 16 in the last over, to be bowled by Rubel Hossain.
The first ball was hit towards long off by O'Brien and was shockingly misfielded by Naeem Islam to give away a boundary. The next ball was smacked over point for another boundary. A 6 from Hyatt off the fifth ball brought the equation down to 1 run off the last ball and a hurriedly taken leg-bye by Hyatt took Rangpur home.
Chasing a target of 161, Rangpur got off to a bad start as both their openers, Junaid Siddique and Shamsur Rahman were sent back to the pavilion within the first four overs. Siddique was caught off Tait for 9 in the third over and Shamsur edged one in the air off Rubel in the fourth.
The Riders, however, came back into the game through a 96-run stand between Imrul Kayes and Cameron Borgas. The pair scored six boundaries and five sixes in their 78-ball partnership and took the Riders from 27 for two to 123 for three by the 17th over. Both batsmen however fell in the 17th over off Kevon Cooper.
Earlier, Ryan Ten Doeschate continued his good form with the bat as his 50 off 32 balls was the mainstay of Chittagong's innings. Chittagong had slumped to 77 for 4 by the 14th over, but a quickfire stand worth 60 off 33 balls between ten Doeschate and Ariful Haque revived the innings for the batting side and helped the Kings reach the 160 mark.
SCORES IN BRIEF
CHITTAGONG KINGS: 160 for 6 (ten Doeschate 50, Ariful 33 not out, Naeem 29; Nasir 2-25, Razzak 2-35).
RANGPUR RIDERS: 161 for 5 in 20 overs (Imrul 48, Borgas 48, Hyatt 20 not out; Tait 2-25, Cooper 2-27).
Result: Rangpur Riders won by 4 wickets.
Player-of-the-match: Danza Hyatt