Royals beat down Warriors
Cumilla Warriors batsman Soumya Sarkar finally broke his jinx in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League by scoring an unbeaten fifty, his first in over four years of the tournament, against Rajshahi Royals at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
However, it was all for naught as Cumilla fell just 15 runs short in chase of the 191-run target set by Rajshahi.
With five wins in six matches, Rajshahi are on the verge of confirming their playoffs spot while on the other hand Cumilla are struggling with just two wins in seven matches.
It was Soumya’s second fifty in 58 BPL appearances. The last time the left-hander scored a half century was back in the 2015 edition.
In yesterday’s first game, Soumya fought a lone battle as none of Cumilla’s other batsmen were able to provide the 26-year-old with any support. Soumya remained unbeaten on a 48-ball 88, featuring six sixes and five boundaries.
In chase of the daunting target, Cumilla once again opted for a new opening pair, however, it did not help much seeing as they were struggling on 29 for two inside six overs.
Robiul Islam was the first to depart on 12 while the inform skipper Dawid Malan was dismissed cheaply on just three off the bowling of Rajshahi captain Andre Russell.
Soumya, who once again changed his batting position to come in at number four, then paired up with South Africa’s Stiaan van Zyl to help heal the initial blow, adding 46 runs for the third wicket.
Stiaan was eventually dismissed on 21 by a Shoaib Malik delivery but at the other end, Soumya looked composed. Soumya, who was then joined by Sabbir Rahman, was middling the ball quite well.
It was a big opportunity for the struggling Sabbir to impress seeing as he is yet to make an impact with the bat so far in the tournament. However, he disappointed once against and was dismissed on just 25 runs.
Although Soumya had reached his fifty off 36 balls by then, the required run rate proved too high to surmount as Cumilla needed 34 runs from the last over to win. Nevertheless, Soumya smashed Russell for two sixes and a four to take 19 runs in the final over but it was too little too late.
Earlier, after being sent to bat, Rajshahi made a solid start with Liton Das and Afif Hossain adding 56 runs for the opening stand. Liton was dismissed after scoring 24, leaving the door open for Malik to join Afif and score some quick runs.
Afif might have looked to be in good touch early on but he eventually departed with 43 runs off 30 balls, which included six fours and a six, while Malik went on to smash his fifty off 35 balls.
Russell and Malik had come down hard on the Cumilla bowlers, adding 73 runs in the last five overs before the latter was finally run out with the last ball of the innings on a 38-ball 61, laced with five fours and three sixes. At the other end, Russell remained not out on 37 runs off 21 balls, featuring four sixes.
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