Rangpur secure top spot beating Cumilla by 9 wickets

Sports Correspondent: Rangpur Riders have confirmed the top spot in the points table beating Cumilla Victorians by nine wickets on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Defending champions Rangpur ended the league stage of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) with eight wins in 12 matches.

They bowled Cumilla out for 72 in 16.3 overs and chased down the target (76/1) in 9.3 overs, losing one wicket.

Rangpur lost their only wicket at nine when Mehedi Maruf fell after scoring five. In the second wicket stand, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers added 67 runs to ensure the win.

Earlier, Cumilla won the toss and decided to bat first. Rangpur’s English all-rounder Ravi Bopara took three wickets conceding seven runs in three overs.

Cumilla lost Tamim Iqbal in the second ball of the innings. Tamim went to drive Nahidul Islam through the cover but failed to time it properly. AB de Villiers took an easy catch.

They lost Anamul Haque in the third over. The right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman posted five runs on the board before being dismissed by Nahidul.

Imrul Kayes, the captain of Cumilla, got out for a duck. He was removed by his counterpart Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. Right after Imrul, Shamsur Rahman (12) fell prey to Shaidul Islam.

Ziaur Rahman was the highest runs getter for Victorians. He struck 21 off 25 deliveries with two fours and one six. Along with Ziaur and Shamsur, Liam Dawson was the only other batsman to reach the double-digit.

While Bopara bagged three wickets, Nahidul and Mashrafe took two each. Shahidul and Minhajul Abedin Afridi also took one wicket each.

Both teams will face again in the first Qualifier of the tournament on February 4 at 6:30pm.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 2, 2019/Yeasin/AI