Afif, Rasooli half centuries bring easy win for Chattogram

Half centuries from Afif Hossain and Darwish Rasooli helped Chattogram Challegengers win comfortably by eight wickets against Dhaka Dominators in their Bangladesh Premier League match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Saturday.

Afif, the player of the match, who scored his first half century in BPL in three years, remained not out on 69 off 52 while Afghan batter Rasooli was on 56 off 33 as their side reached 159/2 in 17.4 overs.

Chattogram opener Al-Amin was bowled facing his first ball while his partner Usman Khan got out for 22 off 21 chasing Dhaka’s 158-6 but Afif and Rasooli added 103 runs off 62 balls to chase down the target.

Afif, who struck seven fours and a six, scored runs with a steady pace but Rasooli initially struggled as he scored just 19 from 25 balls. But the Afghan added 37 in the next eight balls to finish the match with a whirlwind.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka failed to put up a big score after winning the toss. Their openers Mizanur Rahman and Usman Ghani took a steady approach and formed a 60-run stand that took as many as 56 balls.

Usman improved his strike rate before getting out for 47 while Nasir Hossain and Ariful Haque had some late blitz with 30 and 29 from 22 and 18 balls respectively but that did not prove enough in the end.

With the win Chattogram now have four points from four games while Dhaka have two from three.