Roy powers Kings

Chittagong Kings' Jason Roy, who remained not out on 92 off 55 balls, follows the path of the ball after hoisting it over long-on during the BPL T20 match against Duronto Rajshahi at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR

Duronto Rajshahi's chances of making it through to the next round suffered a blow after their 33-run defeat to Chittagong Kings at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. Batting first Chittagong were propelled to a formidable 193 courtesy of a blistering 92 from Jason Roy and a quickfire half-century from Ryan ten Doeschate.
At 146 for 4, Rajshahi had the daunting task of scoring 48 runs off the last three overs. The third ball of the 17th over saw Simon Katich (53) -- their mainstay -- bowled by a slower delivery from Rubel Hossain and in the next over captain Chamara Kapugedera fell in his attempt to hit out.
Two sixes by Charles Coventry in the first overof Rajshahi's chase, bowled by Shaun Tait, raised hopes of a fighting response. Coventry continued to be the main aggressor for the first couple of overs before being bowled by Tait in the third over.
The aggression though continued as Dilshan Munaweera joined Simon Katich at the crease. Munaweera began his innings by top-edging a boundary and hitting a superb inside out stroke for a six off Rubel Hossain in the fourth over. The pair scored a flurry of boundaries and took Rajshahi to 93 for 1 at the halfway mark. The 66-run stand eventually came to an end after Munaweera (35) was caught off Mahmudullah Riyad in the 11th over.
Ziaur Rahman entered next and hit two sixes and two fours in his 17-ball 26 before becoming Tait's second victim. Katich continued to play the anchor's role and reached his 50 off 35 balls in the 16th over. The fall of wickets, however, made Rajshahi struggle to keep up with the asking rate.
Earlier, the Chittagong Kings lost Naeem Islam, who scored a seven-ball duck, in the second over of the match. However, an aggressive 71-run stand for the second wicket, between Roy and skipper Brendan Taylor helped Chittagong recover. They scored 72 runs in the first nine overs. Taylor smacked two sixes and two fours whereas Roy hit four fours and a six in the stand.
After Taylor's dismissal, caught off Mukhtar Ali in the tenth over, ten Doeschate picked up the pace seamlessly and along with Roy, scored boundaries with ease. Roy was particularly harsh against the spinners. The 15th over was a treat to watch -- Roy used his feet against Taijul Islam and dispatched him for a four and a six down the ground and ended the over with a smack over midwicket for a boundary. He ended up hitting a total of four sixes and eight fours in his 55-ball 92. Ten Doeschate wasn't too far behind, hitting four fours and three sixes -- two of which came in the last over -- in his 39-ball innings.
SCORES IN BRIEF
CHITTAGONG KINGS: 193 for 3 (Roy 92 not out, Doeschate 65; Monir 1-30).
DURONTO RAJSHAHI: 160 for 6 (Katich 53; Tait 2-35, Rubel 2-23).
Result: Chittagong Kings won by 33 runs.
Player-of-the-match: Jason Roy.