Rangpur, Comilla thru' to playoffs
While Rangpur Riders and Comilla Victorians have gathered momentum at the business end of the group phase, Chittagong Vikings failed to fire in front of their home crowd, losing their third game on the trot at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.
AB de Villiers delivered and he was partnered by Rangpur Riders' ever-present Rilee Rossouw as they ensured a top-four finish with a six-wicket win over Rajshahi Kings in the second game yesterday that took their points tally to 14. The Riders recaptured top spot, followed closely by Comilla Victorians, who beat Chittagong Vikings by seven wickets in the first game. In the process, both teams have gone through to the four-team playoffs because, as the table currently stands, only two other teams can reach or exceed 14 points -- Dhaka Dynamites and the VIkings.
Rajshahi Kings' batting order saw a few starts but a side largely built on local talent did not fire against Rangpur, who are finding momentum at the right time.
Forhad Reza, Shahidul Islam and Nazmul were amongst the wickets before Rilee Rossouw, who struck a 43-ball 55 to take his tournament haul to 514 runs -- becoming the first batsman in the BPL to have scored 500 runs in one edition -- and ensuring victory for the Riders.
Rossouw and de Villiers (37 off 27) starred in a 71-run partnership but there was a slight hiccup as Rajshahi made things tight with both their wickets, but Mohammad Mithun and Nahidul Islam took Rangpur over the line with eight balls remaining.
Chittagong Vikings, meanwhile, are now sweating on qualification after picking up five consecutive wins earlier on in the tournament, perhaps unable to contend with the gap left by burly South African all-rounder Robbie Frylinck, who has been out with an injury for two matches.
They had rocketed to the top of the BPL standings with captain Mushfiqur Rahim in great form and Robbie Frylinck providing the kind of impact required by a side largely built on young local talent.
Momentum shifted with the match against Rangpur Riders, when Rilee Rossouw and Alex Hales terrorised the Vikings bowlers.
The top order did not step up adequately despite some starts and, following Frylinck's injury, the lower-middle order lagged too. Sikandar Raza underperformed with the bat and Mosaddek Hossain, despite top-scoring with 43 yesterday, has been more hit than miss.
In a match shortened by one over due to rain, Mushfiqur's young guns succumbed to early pressure. Yasir fell for nought and Mushfiqur, who had played some fantastic knocks in this BPL but in recent matches fell to poor shot selection, fell cheaply. Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Saifuddin and Shahid Afridi took two wickets each. Victorians overcame Chittagong's score of 116 for eight quite easily, winning by seven wickets after Tamim Iqbal struck an unbeaten 51-ball 54.
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