Riders Back in Business

Riding on Babar Azam’s crucial fifty Rangpur Riders sealed their second win in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 after they beat Durdanto Dhaka by 79-run at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday night.

Babar scored 62 off 46 balls, which is his second fifty in the ongoing competition, while Azmatullah Omarzai struck 32 off 15 balls to guide Rangpur to 183-8 in the stipulated 20 overs after Dhaka sent them to bat first.

Brandon King, who struggled for runs in Rangpur’s opening three games, played some exciting shots before he was dismissed on 20 by Taskin Ahmed.

Dhaka spinner Arafat Sunny then removed Rony Talukdar (11) before Babar and skipper Nurul Hasan Sohan shared a 50-run stand to take them close to the 100-run mark.

Arafat (3-32) grabbed Dhaka double success in the same over when he removed Nurul (26) and Nabi (one) but Babar continued his performance with the bat and shared a 39-run stand with Azmatullah.

Gunathilaka then broke their partnership when he removed Babar after the batter tried him to clear at long-on but only to get caught by SM Meherob’s brilliant diving effort.

Azmatuallah and Shamim Hossain (17 off 8 balls) took 17 and 16 runs respectively from the last two overs to raise the prospect of taking their team total close to the 200-run mark but Alauddin Babu conceded only eight runs in the last over to restrict Rangpur to a 180-plus total.

Rangpur star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who had completed an individual practice session on Saturday morning at the Outer Stadium, didn’t bat during Rangpur’s innings. 

In reply, Dhaka got an early blow when Azmatullah trapped Danushka Gunathilaka (0) for a plumb lbw in the first over before he removed Dhaka’s Pakistani recruit Saim Ayub for 17.

Mahedi Hasan (3-11) handed sent back Sri Lankan of Dhaka Lasith Croospulle a three-ball duck before Mohammad Nabi removed Mohammad Naim on 9 runs to leave Dhaka tottering at 32-4 in the seventh over.

Dhaka’s Alex Ross and Mosaddek Hossain (15) then shared a 49-run stand for the fifth wicket to bring some resistance but pacer Hasan Mahmud removed the skipper and Irfan Sukkur (0) in successive deliveries to take full control in the game.