Rangpur brush aside Chattogram with seven-wicket win
Rangpur Riders picked up their eighth win of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League season as they eased past a downtrodden Chattogram Challengers side beating them by seven wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday to inch closer to a top-two finish with one match to go which would bring them a Qualifier spot.
After restricting Chattogram to a par score of 132 for eight, Rangpur comfortably chased it down with four overs to spare, courtesy of the latest Aghan inclusion, Rahmanullah Gurbaz who made an instant impression in the tournament with a 30-ball 46 that featured seven fours and one six.
Batting first, Chattogram struggled to get impetus into their innings losing wickets at regular intervals that put a rope on their total. The top three- Usman Khan (2), Max O'Dowd (11), and Mehedi Maruf (4) were back in the hut inside the first five overs followed by Afif Hossain who capped off his dismal run in the tournament with another promising start which he failed to make anything of as he was dismissed in the seventh over for eight-ball 15.
Tawfique Khan managed to grind out a 28-ball 26, and Mirittunjoy Chowdhury remained unbeaten for 20-ball 17 starring in Chattogram's bleak outlook.
Similar to their previous match, all-rounder Ziaur Rahman, who took charge of leading the team in their last fixture, injected impetus into the innings with a 25-ball 33 which saw him smash three sixes and two fours to help Chattogram get to 132 for eight.
Rangpur's Haris Rauf continued his fine run and once again shone with figures of two wickets for just 14 runs, while the reliable left-arm spin of Rakibul Islam once again tightened the screws of the batting side as he too scalped two wickets.
Ripon Mondol made his BPL debut and the pacer impressed with some sharp deliveries. He marked his first match with Ziaur Rahman's wicket and conceded 26 runs in his four overs.
In reply, Rangpur opener Mohammad Naim appeared to have gone out of his natural habits as he gave them a flying start scoring a 12-ball 20 before being castled by Nihaduzzaman.
His partner Rony Talukdar chewed up 27 balls for his 28 runs before going back to the hut but at the other end, Gurbaz continued on his merry way to take Rangpur on the shores of victory but the right-handed batter tried to play one shot too many as he got stumped off Nihaduzzaman.
But a watchful skipper in Nurul Hasan Sohan (15), and a 15-ball 20-run knock from Tom Kohler-Cadmore ensured Rangpur's marauding run to victory.