Mash’s men chase down Sylhet’s 194

Farhad Reza came to the crease and blitzed 18 off six deliveries as Rangpur Riders chased down Sylhet Sixers' 194 total with four wickets to spare to climb to third in the BPL standings after their seventh game.

It looked like Taskin Ahmed turned things around for Sylhet with another four-fer in this seson's BPL but a collective effort from the batsmen, something that coach Tom Moody had emphasised ahead of the game, took Rangpur to their third victory in the tournamentt after Sabbir Rahman's incredible innings for Sylhet saw them post a big total on the board.

Costly mistakes on the field led to Sylhet's downfall as they dropped Rilee Rossouw quite a number of times. Twice he was dropped by wicket-keeper Jaker Ali while on 1 and 12 and the left-hander -- easily the most consistent batsman in this tournament so far -- rode his luck to hit a 35-ball 61 that included nine fours and two sixes. He was also reprieved again by Pooran in the sixth over off Taskin but the lanky pacer finally got his man in the 14th over, out chasing a wide delivery as Liton Das, who replaced Jaker as the wicket-keeper, took the catch.

De Villiers, playing his first ever BPL game, was not short on confidence as he hit a 21-ball 34 before perishing to a Taskin slower delivery. Mohammad Mithun (14 off 10) and Nahidul Islam (19 off 16) took Rangpur close to the target of 195 before Mashrafe Bin Mortaza  and Farhad took them to victory with three deliveries to spare.

Following the game, David Warner, who was playing his final match for the Sixers this year as he will be flying to Australia soon to gets his injured elbow checked out by specialists, admitted that missed opportunities in the field cost them the game.

"It was a great game, but at the end a tad disappointing from our side. I want to pay credit to Sabbir, the way he came out and played. And obviously Pooran finished it off. 194 was above par and very defendable. But if you give four chances, you're going to have a tough time defending. And obviously they had the injection of AB, a world-class player around the world. The crowd is fantastic, I'm extremely grateful to BCB to let me come here and play," he said.

Earlier, Sabbir led the charge for the Sylhet Sixers with a 51-ball 85, laced with five fours and six sixes. The right-hander struggled for form this year but tilted proceedings towards his side with a smashing knock. He combined with Afif Hossain during the Powerplay and after the latter's wicket, he forged a 51-run partnership with skipper David Warner (19) for the third-wicket as he brought up his fifty, with the team score past 100.

More entertainment was to follow after Warner's dismissal as Nicholas Pooran came to the crease. Pooran hit an unbeaten 27-ball 47 and starred in an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Sabbir. The duo took the score to 185 before Sabbir fell in the final over to Shafiul Islam and Sylhet managed to post a massive 194 on the board after the end of 20 overs. Mashrafe was Rangpur's most successful bowler, bagging two wickets for 31 runs in four overs.