Riders Open BPL Account On Babar’s Brilliance

Babar Azam struck a sensational fifty to help Rangpur Riders clinch their first win in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League after they beat Sylhet Strikers by four wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Babar, who landed in Dhaka on Monday night, took no time to repay the faith of the franchise as he struck an unbeaten   56 off 49 balls while Azmatuallah Omarzai also made 47 not out off 35 balls to guide Rangpur to 125-6 in 18.2 overs to hand Sylhet their second consecutive defeat in the tournament.

The pair came together after Sylhet triggered a batting collapse in Rangpur innings by reducing them to 39-6 but their unbeaten stand of 86 runs to take their side home at the end.

Sylhet’s Sri Lankan leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha finished with 3-20.

Earlier, Sylhet witnessed a similar batting collapse in their innings when they were asked to bat first as they were left rueing at 39-5 in the ninth over.

Benny Howell (43) and Ben Cutting (31) then put up 68 runs for the sixth wicket to take their score beyond 100-run mark but lack of fire-power during the late in the innings forced them to 120-8 in 20 overs.

Mahedi Hasan and Ripon Mondol took two wickets each for Rangpur