Ryan drives Chittagong

Chittagong Kings players celebrate the fall of a Sylhet Royals wicket during their BPL T20 semifinal at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. The Kings won the match by three wickets. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

It will be a final clash between the Chittagong Kings and Dhaka Gladiators today as the Kings rode on a scintillating, unbeaten 44 from Ryan ten Doeschate to beat favourites Sylhet Royals by three wickets in the second semifinal of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
The 150-run winning target looked a distant reality for the Kings when they lost their first two wickets for only four runs before being reduced to 96 for five in 14.5 overs. But the in-form ten Doeschate, the big name in Dutch cricket, turned the tide in favour of the port city franchise with a vital assist from Ariful Haque.
Ten Doeschate finished the chase in style as the right-hander sliced left-arm pacer Sajidul Islam over point for a boundary to book the final spot with five balls to spare.
Sylhet were in a good position to set another clash of the titans with Dhaka Gladiators, but ten Doeschate hit a six and a boundary to collect 16 runs against Afghanistan spinner Mohammad Nabi in the 17th over. Then Ariful, who scored 23 off 12 balls, put Elton Chigumbura to the sword in the next over, hitting two fours and a six to secure 21 runs and all but seal the fate of the match. His assault left only seven to be scored off the last two overs.
Pacer Nazmul Hossain gave the Kings some last-minute jitters by removing Ariful and Kevon Cooper off successive deliveries in the penultimate over, which yielded only three runs. Ten Doeschate however, ensured that that was the end of the drama.
Earlier, Sylhet Royals made it to a respectable 149 after being put in to bat, thanks mainly to Elton Chigumbura; the Zimbabwean played another gem of an innings after his team's progress was hampered by the regular fall of wickets.
It was a good total in the end, considering the fact that they lost four wickets for 68 runs in 12 overs. Paul Stirling fell victim to a magnificent run-out effected by ten Doeschate, whose effort in the field set up his brilliance with the bat later. That paved the way for left-arm spinner Enamul Haque to remove Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Smith and the crisis deepened for Sylhet when Ravi Bopara dismissed Mohammad Nabi.
But then the in-form Mushfiqur Rahim and Chigumbura played pivotal roles to take their team to a fighting total.
Mushfiqur, fresh off a brilliant 86 in a losing cause against Dhaka in the Race to the Final on Friday, carried on his good form to revive his team's hopes with a 20-ball 36 that contained three fours and two sixes.
But Chigumbura deserved the lion's share of the credit for giving his team a total to defend in the crucial encounter as the right-hander smote three fours and as many sixes during his unbeaten 25-ball 42.
After a tight penultimate over from Taskin that yielded only two runs, Chigumbura punished Kevon Cooper for two sixes as Sylhet plundered 20 from the last over.
SCORES IN BRIEF
SYLHET ROYALS: 149 for 7 in 20 overs (Chanderpaul 16, Stirling 14, Mushfiqur 36, Nabi 10, Chigumbura 42 not out, extras 12; Taskin 1-24, Cooper 2-39, Enamul 2-24, Bopara 1-21).
CHITTAGONG KINGS: 150 for 7 in 19.1 overs (Naeem 31, Nurul 33, ten Doeschate 44 not out, Riyad 14, Ariful 23, extras 4; Nabi 2-42, Nazmul 2-9).
Result: Chittagong Kings won by three wickets.
Player-of-the-match: Ryan ten Doeschate.