Perfect Dhaka take on Rangpur

After yesterday's rest day, the sixth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League resumes today and an exciting day of cricket seems to be on the cards as the top two teams -- Dhaka Dynamites and Rangpur Riders -- battle in the first game while Comilla Victorians face Rajshahi Kings under lights later on the day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Dhaka Dynamites vs Rangpur Riders

Although this edition of BPL has seen many low-scoring affairs, after a day's rest it can be expected that the slow Mirpur pitch will be more batting-friendly. And with the big names on both sides, spectators can hope to start the day by witnessing a cracker of a contest.

Shakib Al Hasan's Dhaka are on a roll and his side will be stepping onto the field on the back of a massive 105-run victory over Khulna Titans last Tuesday -- their biggest ever win in BPL and the second biggest win in the tournament's history -- looking to maintain their perfect run against Rangpur.

However, even after a flawless beginning, one thing that could be of concern for Dhaka is that their middle order is still untested in the tournament as the lion's share of their runs in both the matches have been scored by their top order batsmen, with opener Hazratullah Zazai, the top-scorer of the tournament, having scored 135.

On the other hand, defending champions Rangpur have bounced back brilliantly after losing their opening fixture against Chittagong Vikings with two consecutive wins -- the last of which was a whopping nine-wicket victory against Comilla.

Rangpur opener Rilee Rossow was also confident of carrying on with their winning ways as he mentioned after their practice session yesterday that they were not intimidated by Dhaka's big names, which include the likes of Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell.

"I think in every single team there are big names. If you look at big names whole time, you won't go anywhere. You just have to stand up and face them."

Comilla Victorians vs Rajshahi Kings

After their humiliating nine-wicket defeat against Rangpur in their last game, more bad news came Comilla's way as it was confirmed that skipper Steven Smith will not be available today, having suffered an elbow injury.

While Smith's absence is a big blow to the franchise, coach Mohammad Salahuddin believes the onus will now be on local players to step up.

"Tomorrow [Friday] the team that plays better cricket will win. Especially our local batsmen need to do better as they are habituated to playing here, so if they can score runs then it will be easy for the overseas batsmen. If our local players do well and I think if we can start well then we can get to a good position as we have a long batting line-up," Salahuddin said.

While Comilla are pinning their hopes on locals, Rajshahi's young skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz will be looking to register a second win in the tournament and move up the table, in which they are currently second from the bottom.