Rabbi, Fizz hand Kings victory after Evans ton
Laurie Evans provided the spark that Rajshahi batting order needed as he struck this year's first BPL ton to see Rajshahi post a strong 176 for three on the board. Medium pacer Kamrul Rabbi bagged four wickets and Mustafizur Rahman bowled superbly at the death to see Rajshahi win their fourth game of the season with a 38-run victory over Comilla Vikings at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.
Evans started slowly but then struck gold after the 14th over of the innings, hitting two sixes off Thisara Perera to pick up his fifty. He was on 37 off 36 deliveries before that over from Thisara and the rest of his 67 runs came off just 26 deliveries as he hit an incredible nine fours and six sixes during his unbeaten 62-ball 104. He was partnered well by Ten Doeschate (59* off 41) as the duo combined in an unbroken 148-run fourth-wicket to see their side post 176 on the board.
Following the exchange, Tamim Iqbal (25) and Anamul Haque started solidly but soon lost their way losing wickets at regular intervals. Afghan leg-spinner Qais Ahmed was amongst the wickets as both Imrul Kayes (15) and Thisara Perera (0) perished off back-to-back deliveries in the 14th over.
Shahid Afridi threatened to cut loose, hitting two sixes and a four off three consecutive deliveries to put a damper on the spinner's bowling figures but it was Mustafizur Rahman who was the real hero with the ball as he bowled dot balls to Afridi with ease to put pressure on the big-hitting all-rounder in the death overs. That pressure eventually led to his downfall as he was holed at deep mid-wicket, out after a fantastic catch by Christiaan Jonker off Kamrul Islam Rabbi. Comilla finally perished for 138 as Fizz picked up the wicket of Mahedi Hasan.
Brief scores:
Comilla Vikings 138/10 (Tamim 25, Anamul 26, Rabbi 4/10, Qais 2/46, Ten Doeschate 2/15, Mustafizur 1/8
Rajshahi Kings 176/3 (Evans 104*, Ten Doechate 59*, Dawson 2/20)
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