Riders defuse Dynamites

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) witnessed its first one-sided contest when the Rangpur Riders decimated the Dhaka Dynamites by 69 runs in Mirpur. The margin of the victory was in fact the fourth highest in a BPL tournament.

Having lost their previous game, Rangpur -- considered the strongest team on paper -- needed to bounce back. And they did that in style as their key performers clicked yesterday.

In the last two matches, neither of Rangpur's openers managed big scores. However, yesterday was different as the West Indies' Lendl Simmons scored a responsible 51 off 39 deliveries. The foundation built by Simmons made things a lot easier for the rest of the batsmen. He smashed three sixes and five fours.

The West Indian took off in the third over when he smashed Nasir Hossain for a six and four. Abul Hasan was his next victim, getting hit for 15 runs in the sixth over.

In addition to Simmons' innings, brilliant all-round performances from Thisara Perera and Shakib Al Hasan helped the Riders clinch the game with ease. While Thisara scored 27 with the bat and finished with figures 3 for 25, Shakib scored 24 and took a crucial 4 for 16.

After electing to bat first, the Riders posted 176. It was a different line-up compared to the last game as they decided to drop Misbahul Haq. It was a decision that initially came as a surprise considering that the Pakistani had scored a match-winning half-century in the first game.

The decision was taken as Rangpur decided to utilise the all-rounders in their side to the fullest. With Shakib, Perera, Marlon Samuels and Mohammad Al-Amin in the side, they decided to draft in specialist off-spinner Sachitra Sananayake.

The ploy seemed to work for Rangpur, as after the exchange the wicket slowed down a tinge and that provided Rangpur's slower bowlers with a bit more help.

Dhaka's openers, Nasir Jamshed and Shamsur Rahman, were both removed by Shakib in the third over. The next two batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and Mosaddek Hossain, fell victim to left-arm spin as well, with Arafat Sunny scalping their crucial wickets.

Had it not been for the turnarounds witnessed in the last few matches, many would have considered the game done and dusted by the 11th over when the Dynamites were struggling at 53 for 4.

However, there were no hard hits and no exciting finishes yesterday as Dhaka's lower order batsmen found no avenue for their shots. The intensity was lost in the last five overs and it almost seemed to end in slow motion. The Dynamites were bundled out for 107 in 19.4 overs.