Evans, ten Doeschate shine
It was a perfect outing for Rajshahi Kings with both bat and ball as Laurie Evans struck the maiden hundred of this season's BPL and Kamrul Islam Rabbi followed that with a four-wicket haul to register a convincing 38-run win over a strong Comilla Victorians. With four wins in seven games Rajshahi now stand fourth in the points table while Comilla, despite the defeat, are still in third position with the same number of wins from seven matches.
A RECORD FOURTH-WICKET STAND FROM EVANS-TEN DOESCHATE
It was not the ideal start for Rajshahi after being asked to bat as at point they were struggling on 28 for three inside seven overs. But it was Laurie Evans who held the ship together with Netherlands' Ryan ten Doeschate. The pair started cautiously with Rajshahi reaching just 70 after 13 overs. Since then, however, both Evans and ten Doeschate took on Comilla's bowlers and added an unbeaten 148-run fourth-wicket stand -- the highest for the wicket in the BPL. The previous record partnership for the fourth wicket was between Marlon Samuels and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza for Comilla Victorians back in 2016 when they added 123 runs. Evans who reached his hundred in 61 balls, remained unbeaten on 104 off 62 balls while Doeschate brought up a half-ton and was not out on 59 off 41 balls as Rajshahi hammered 74 runs in the last five overs.
EVANS'S MAIDEN T20 TON
With scores of 10, 1 not out, 0, 2 and 0 in his last five innings, yesterday was probably the last chance for left-hander Evans to prove his worth. The English cricketer grabbed the opportunity with both hands, responding to the demands of the situation and starting cautiously. At one stage, Evans was batting on a run-a-ball 30 before he started to accelerate. It was in the 14th over of Thisara Perera that Evans struck two sixes to reach his fifty off forty balls and since then it rained sixes from the left-hander's willow, which unleashed six in total as well as nine boundaries. He eventually reached his maiden T20 ton with a single in the second ball of the last over to help post an ultimately match-winning total of 176 for three in 20 overs.
KAMRUL'S CAREER-BEST AND FIZZ AS USUAL
Defending 176, it was Rajshahi's local pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi who led the bowling attack with great effect and made things difficult for Comilla's batsmen right from the start. After conceding just one run in the first over of the innings the right-arm seamer picked up the big wicket of Tamim Iqbal, who was caught at long on going for a big shot. In his third spell Kamrul picked three wickets in the 18th over -- he removed Shahid Afridi and followed that by dismissing Liam Dawson and Mohammad Saifuddin in consecutive deliveries. By then it was all over for Comilla, as Kamrul ended up with career-best bowling figures of four for 10 from his three overs. Mustafizur Rahman did what he has been doing throughout the tournament, not giving the batsmen any respite as he conceded just eight runs from 3.2 overs and picked up the last wicket of Mahedi Hasan.
SCORES IN BRIEF
RAJSHAHI KINGS v COMILLA VICTORIANS
RAJSHAHI: 176 for 3 in 20 overs (Evans 104 not out, Doeschate 59, Nafees 5; Dawson 2-20, Mahedi 1-4)
COMILLA: 138 all out in 18.2 overs (Anamul 26, Tamim 25; Kamrul 4-10, Doeschate 2-15, Mehedi 2-46)
Result: Rajshahi won by 38 runs.
Player-of-the-match: Laurie Evans.
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