Mushfiq beats Taskin in Zimbabwe, Shakib wins against Litton in Canada

Four Bangladeshi cricketers were in action in overseas franchise leagues on Saturday night, with Mushfiqur Rahim’s Joburg Buffaloes defeating Taskin Ahmed’s Bulawayo Braves in the Zim Afro T10 and Shakib Al Hasan’s Montreal Tigers coming out on top against Litton Das’ Surrey Jaguars in the Global T20 Canada.

At the Harare Sports Club Ground, both Mushfiq and Taskin had good outings, with the wicketkeeper-batter hitting a quickfire 46 off 23 balls and the pacer claiming three wickets for just 11 runs in his two overs.

After winning the toss, Taskin’s Bulawayo chose to field first. Taskin came into the attack in the third over and picked up the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez, Ravi Bopara and Delano Potgieter.

Taskin’s triple strike left Joburg in heaps of trouble. But Mushfiq’s exhilarating knock helped them post 105-7 in 10 overs. Mushfiq, who came out to bat at no.6, hit eight fours and remained not out.

Chasing the target, Bulawayo finished on 95-9 in 10 overs.

Taskin had played another match earlier that day, where he got one wicket and conceded just seven runs in his two overs against Harare Hurricanes. Bulawayo won that match by 49 runs.

Meanwhile in Canada, Shakib performed with both bat and ball, taking three wickets, including Litton’s, and scoring a 13-ball 26 to help Montreal complete a five-wicket win over Surrey.

Sent to bat, Surrey lost their first wicket in the second over, when opener Alex Hales fell to Kaleem Sana, and from there kept losing wickets in regular succession.

Litton hit one six in his 11-ball stay before getting caught off Shakib in the fifth over. Shakib finished with 3-18 in his four overs and helped restrict Surrey to 136-6.

Shakib then came out to bat at no.3 and hit four boundaries and a six in his brief but effective innings. Montreal reached their target with nine balls to spare.