Sylhet's perfect three

Upul Tharanga and Andre Fletcher tapped into their rich vein of form for the third game in a row to set the tone of a perfect home leg for Sylhet Sixers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The left-right pair entertained the full-house crowd at the Sylhet International Stadium yesterday with a flamboyant 101-run opening stand in just 10.3 overs against Rajshahi Kings. The robust stand was enough for the BPL debutants to rack up 205 for six, the highest total so far in the fifth edition of the glamorous T20 competition.

Rajshahi, in their chase for a massive total, could manage 172-8 in their share of 20 overs and conceded a 33-run defeat. Former England opener Luke Wright with a 39-ball 56 and James Franklin with 35 tried to match the ever-increasing run-rate. But their efforts were not enough to avoid a defeat.

Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Tharanga hit a sublime 50 off 37 balls that contained five fours and a six. It was the left-hander's third fifty in a row after his unbeaten 69 against Dhaka Dynamites and 51 against Comilla Victorians.

West Indian right-hander Fletcher fell two runs short of what could have been his second fifty in three games. But his 30-ball blitzkrieg that featured five fours and three sixes laid the solid platform for Sylhet to build on.

Interestingly, Sylhet once again relied on their foreign imports in their pursuit of three wins on the trot and a pole position before moving to Dhaka for the second leg.

Sabbir Rahman was the only Bangladesh batsman who joined run fest. Unfortunately the contribution of the right-hander in the total was a disappointing 16 off 14 balls. It was actually the other Sri Lankan in the team, Danuskha Gunathilaka, who took charge after the quick dismissals of both openers. The left-hander played some magnificent shots including a scoop over the wicketkeeper's head for a six during his power-packed 22-ball 42. He struck three sixes and a couple of fours.

It then fell on the English pair of Ross Whiteley and Liam Plunkett to muscle the score past the 200-mark. Whiteley hammered an unbeaten 12-ball 25. The left-hander smote three sixes including two against medium pacer Forhad Reza's off successive deliveries in the penultimate over. He also brought up the 200 by hitting West Indian pacer Kesrick Williams for a massive six in the final over.

Although Sylhet skipper Nasir Hossain is a very useful batsman down the order, the right-hander wisely decided on power-hitters to accelerate the runs and it worked. Sylhet's first and second fifties came off 31 balls; their third fifty needed 37 deliveries, but the fourth fifty came off only 20 deliveries.

Sylhet are one of the two unbeaten teams in the tournament so far. They thrashed defending champions Dhaka in the opening match by nine wickets. They then pulled off a thrilling last-over victory over Comilla. 

Sylhet will play Khulna Titans today for a perfect ending on their home turf.