Rabby blitz takes HP into semis

Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby's unbeaten 13-ball 32 blitz powered Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) High Performance Unit to a three-wicket win over Perth Scorchers and sealed them a place in the semifinal of the nine-team Top End T20 series in Darwin, Australia today.

Rabby's swashbuckling innings, which included a couple of fours and sixes each, was supported by skipper Akbar Ali's 35 off 33 balls and opener Jishan Alam's run-a-ball 26, which helped their side reach 130-7 in 19.3 overs.

Perth pacer Matthew Kelly had rocked HP Unit with early strikes and finished with remarkable figures of 3-8 in his four overs, however, could not eke out a victory for his side.

Earlier, fielding first, the HP Unit restricted Perth to 129-5 with Ripon Mondol and Rakibul Hasan claiming two wickets each.

Perth opener Teague Wyllie hit the lone half-century of the match, making a run-a-ball 56.

Chasing 130, the HP Unit were reduced to 15-3 in 5.4 overs after Kelly removed Tanzid Tamim (one), Parvez Hossain Emon (0) and Ariful Islam (two) in quick successions.

The HP Unit were staring at defeat when Rabby came to the middle as the eighth batter of the innings, with hos side needing 41 runs off 23 balls.

Rabby then turned the game on its head in the 18th over, where he took 20 runs off Keaton Critchell with the help of two sixes and a four.

With eight runs required in the final over, Rabby hit a four in the first ball and ensured the HP Unit crossed the finish line.

The HP Unit finished the first round of the competition with three wins and the same number of losses in six games.

With the win over Perth, they have secured a spot in the semifinals.