Riders secure playoff berth
Rangpur Riders clinched a playoff berth as the first team of the sixth season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Rajshahi Kings on Tuesday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium by six wickets, reports UNB.
The Kings posted a total of 141/8 in 20 overs after winning the toss and decided to bat first. The Riders chased down the target of 142 with eight balls to spare (145/4 in 18.4 overs).
Riders' win over the Kings also confirmed a playoff berth for Comilla Victorians who secured 14 points earlier in the day beating Chittagong Vikings.
Now, both of the Victorians and the Riders have secured 14 points. However, the Riders are at a higher place in the points table as they have a better run-rate than the Victorians.
Riders' chase was led by Rilee Rossouw who hit his fifth half century of the season. The defending champions of BPL failed to have a good start as Chris Gayle fell for 10 off 14. The Carribean batting star disappointed fans again with the bat once again. He was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Alex Hales, the Englishman who had struck a ton in a match earlier, fell for 16 this time. However, AB de Villiers and Rilee added 71 runs in the third wicket stand. Rilee got dismissed scoring 55 for 43 with five fours and two sixes to his name while AB post 37 off 27 balls.
With 15 runs required to win, AB got dismissed by Arafat Sunny. The remaining job was completed by Mohammad Mithun (4) and Nahidul Islam (11).
Mehidy Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Qais Ahmed and Kamrul Islam took one wicket each for the Kings.
In the first innings, Farhad Reza bowled well for the Riders and took three wickets for 30 runs to restrict the Kings to 141. For this impressive bowling performance, he was adjudged man of the match.
Laurie Evans and Qais Ahmed were the top scorers for the Kings. While Evans struck 35 off 31 balls, Qais scored 22 off 20 balls.
Johnson Charles (12), Soumya Sarkar (14), Christian Jonker (16) and Fazle Mahmud (18) also contributed to the total of the Kings.
Along with Farhad, Nazmul Islam and Shahidul Islam bowled well for the Riders and picked up two wickets each while Nahidul Islam bagged one.
The Riders will play their last match before the playoffs against the Victorians on 2 February while the Kings will play their last encounter before the playoffs against Sylhet Sixers on 30 January.