Rangpur brush aside Dhaka
Rangpur Riders crushed Dhaka Dynamites by 69 runs on the back of a superb bowling effort from Shakib Al Hasan and Thisara Perera in the 7th match of BPL-2015 at Mirpur today.
After an unbeaten cameo, Shakib contributed with the ball as well and led his side Rangpur incisively to a resounding win at the expense of a much vaunted Dhaka side.
He finished with four wickets for 16 runs in four brilliant overs. Sri Lankan all-rounder supported his skipper with a probing spell of four overs for 25 runs and three wickets.
For Dhaka, it was a horrible game as the batters failed to stay at the wicket long enough to make any substantial impact, with the scoreboard pressure mounting with every over.
Kumar Sangakkara was the highest run-getter on an awful day for the Dynamites, and their captain managed 29 from 28 balls with three fours.
The rest of the batters didn’t apply themselves, and made it easy for Rangpur to defend their total.
Abu Jayed took the last Dhaka wicket when he clean bowled Mosharraf Hossain for three in the last over of the match.
Perera returned for his final spell and quickly vindicated his captain’s decision by removing Yasir Shah for 12 with a well-disguised slow ball.
Nasir Hossain became Shakib’s fourth victim of the day when he found the fielder after scoring 15 runs from 20 balls. He came too late to change the course of the game.
Farhad Reza fell in the 16th over to Shakib and writing was on the wall for Dhaka.
Perera removed Abul Hasan and Ryan ten Doeschate in quick succession, and mix his slower balls with scrambled seam cutters quite well.
Dhaka’s chase was finally derailed by the Perera double-blow.
Arafat Sunny got his reward for disciplined bowling when he sent back Dhaka captain Sanga for 29 against the run of play. Sunny had dismissed Mosaddek Hossain four overs earlier to begin the slide for the Dynamites.
Rangpur Riders captain Shakib Al Hasan struck early with his left-arm spin and gave his team the upper hand with two vital wickets.
After smashing a six in the previous ball, Nasir Jamshed couldn’t resist his temptation for a big shot, went for the sweep and found the fielder at square-leg to be out for 11.
Shakib dismissed Shamsur Rahman with the one that came in with the arm and kept a bit low. Shamsur scored 2 before he was sent back.
Earlier, Dhaka Dynamites came back into the match with wickets at regular intervals to stall Rangpur Riders in their quest for a huge score.
Shakib Al Hasan and Thisara Perera gave some much needed boost for Rangpur with the long handle, and the Bangladesh all-rounder was unbeaten on 24 from only 15 balls.
The platform for the late surge by the Rangpur lowe-order was laid by Lendl Simmons and Mohammad Mithun.
Simmons top-scored with 51 runs from 39 balls during his stay at the wicket.
Mustafizur Rahman and Yasir Shah took two wickets each. The Bangladeshi left-arm pacer was carted around in his later overs.
Yasir Shah struck in the 18th over to hurt Rangpur in the death overs. He sent back Al-Amin for three to the jubilation of his teammates.
Thisara Perera didn’t last long, was fooled by Mustafizur Rahman’s off-cutter and was caught at sweeper cover. Perera made a useful contribution with the bat, scored 27 from 20 balls.
The Sri Lankan all-rounder smashed two fours and two sixes to the delight of Rangpur fans.
After Mithun went back, the procession of wickets began with Darren Dammy. The West Indian was caught behind off Yasir Shah for three in the 16th over.
Rangpur lost Mohammad Mithun just when the batsmen looked to up the ante in the 14th over, after a good start earlier.
He went for a wild slog, missed the ball from Abul Hasan and was trapped in front. Mithun kept up the tempo with his 34 runs from 22 balls with three fours and two big sixes.
Mosharraf Hossain pulled back things for Dhaka Dynamites when he dismissed Simmons after the batter reached his fifty.
Lendl Simmons was looking in good touch, and scored 51 from 39 balls with five brilliant fours and three sixes.
Rangpur’s West Indian opener Lendl Simmons took a liking to the medium pace bowling from Dhaka, and launched a brutal counterattack with a flurry of boundaries after Soumya was dismissed.
Mustafizur Rahman halted Dhaka’s surge at the right time by sending back the dangerous Soumya Sarkar in the fifth over.
Soumya’s bat face opened uncontrollably when he went for the drive, and was safely pouched by Mosaddek for 18 runs. He struck four lovely boundaries during his 18-minute stay at the wicket.
Rangpur openers Simmons and Sarkar were off to a quick start, and made good use of the width provided to them by the bowlers.
Riders skipper had earlier won the toss and decided to put up a total on the board, and wanted his hard-hitters to fire early in this game.
Dhaka captain Kumar Sangakkara wouldn’t mind chasing on the batting pitch too much, but he is aware of the slow nature of Mirpur’s track that assists spin later on.
Dynamites are playing their second match today after with easy win over Comilla, and the entire squad is upbeat about their chances in this competition.
Dhaka Dynamites
Nasir Jamshed, Mustafizur Rahman, Mosharraf Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Farhad Reza, Abul Hasan, KC Sangakkara (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Nasir Hossain, RN ten Doeschate and Yasir Shah
Rangpur Riders
Arafat Sunny, Mohammad Mithun (Wicketkeeper), Jahurul Islam, Abu Jayed, Al-Amin, SMSM Senanayake, DJG Sammy, NLTC Perera, Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Lendl Simmons and Soumya Sarkar