Explosive duo disappoint
The huge crowd which had gathered yesterday to witness some big hitting from West Indies giant Chris Gayle and hard-hitting Kiwi Brendon McCullum were left disappointed after the Rangpur Riders duo opened an innings for the first time in the history of Bangladesh Premier League against Comilla Victorians.
Both Gayle and McCullum were unable to make an impact as Comilla registered their fourth consecutive win, beating Rangpur by 14 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
With four wins from five games, Comilla now lead the table. Rangpur, on the back of a third loss in four games, are rock bottom.
Chasing 154, Rangpur were at one stage reeling at 32 for four inside seven overs before eventually scoring 139 for 7 in 20 overs. The only notable Rangpur performances came from English batsman Ravi Bopara, who top-scored with a run-a-ball 48, and Mohammad Mithun, who scored 39. The pair added 67 runs for the fifth wicket.
It was evident that Comilla had done their homework when they introduced young off-spinner Mahedi Hasan to open the innings, a move that paid dividends. He ended with the figures of 15 for 2 from his four overs while the brilliant Rashid Khan lived up to his reputation once again, conceding just 19 runs from his four overs and scalping two wickets.
"I wanted the wickets of both Gayle and McCullum, but I am happy with one [McCullum's]," Mahedi said at the post-match briefing.
However, he may well have had the other as Gayle was extremely lucky after he survived the first delivery from Mahedi.
The West Indian missed the arm ball, which shaped in to hit the pad but Sri Lankan umpire Ranmore Martinesz turned down the huge appeal and incited the Vikings fielders, including skipper Tamim Iqbal, with the decision.
The big man survived for the second time on two when he attempted to pull Hasan Ali and only managed a leading edge. Wicketkeeper Liton Das, despite getting his gloves on the ball, missed a rather simple catch running backwards.
Gayle did smash three fours after that but was eventually trapped leg before by Rashid after scoring 17 off 13 balls. This time it looked like the ball was heading down the leg side but umpire Martinesz did not hesitate in raising his finger.
At the other end, McCullum came down the track and smashed a straight six over pacer Al Amin and reached a milestone 400 sixes in T20s. But he too perished on 13 after being stumped by Liton off Mahedi's bowling.
Earlier Comilla made a shaky start after being sent in to bat and posted 153 for 6. In-form Imrul Kayes top scored with 47 off 32 while Marlon Samuels added 41. Saifuddin remained unbeaten on 16 as Comilla added 32 runs from the final three overs.