Shakib Al Hasan smashed a 21-ball half-century as Legends of Rupganj completed a comprehensive 196-run win over Gazi Group Cricketers in their Super League encounter of the Dhaka Premier League at BKSP on Tuesday.
Shakib struck six boundaries and three sixes to finish on 59 off 26 balls while Sabbir Rahman made a fluent 90 off 83 balls to power Rupganj to 293-9 after winning the toss.
Rupganj’s Indian all-rounder Chirag Jani then claimed a five-wicket haul to bundle out Gazi for just 97 in 29.2 overs.
Shakib came to bat at number 5, with Rupganj positioned on 186-3 with 12 overs to go. Shakib hit his first boundary off the fifth delivery he faced. Shakib then cut loose against Rakibul Atik as he struck 6, 4, 6 and 4 in the last four deliveries of the 40th over.
He then hit Khaled Ahmed for a boundary and struck back-to-back fours off Al-Amin in the following over. Shakib had raced to 40 off 15 balls, and the record of the quickest half-century in a List-A match in Bangladesh, an 18-ball fifty from Farhad Reza in the 2018-19 season, was within his reach.
Shakib had a chance to match Reza after hitting Al-Amin for a six to reach 47 off 17 balls. But it took him four more balls to complete the half-century.
Shakib’s half-century is the third quickest in List-A matches in Bangladesh. Nazmul Hossain and New Zealand’s Jacob Oram jointly hold the second spot with a 19-ball fifty.
Before the Shakib storm, Sabbir’s 103-run partnership with Naeem Islam (42) for the third wicket set the tone of the Rupganj innings. Shakib departed off Al-Amin, giving a catch to Maraj Mahbub Niloy in the 46th over.
Sabbir was on his way to a century but lost his wicket in the penultimate over of the innings.
In reply, Gazi Group Cricketers innings fell apart inside the first 10 overs. They were reduced to 34-6 in just 8.3 overs, with Chirag claiming four wickets with his medium pace bowling.
Husna Habib Mehedi and Meherob Hossain made 32 and 27 respectively to push the total close to the three-figure mark. But Gazi lost its last four wickets for just seven runs and lost the match by an embarrassing margin.