Barisal Bulls thrash Rangpur Riders by 5-wkts

Sport Desk: Barisal Bulls have sealed an awesome victory of five wickets against Rangpur Riders in the second match of qualifying stage of BPL at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur of Dhaka on Sunday.

 

Bulls were reeling early in their chase when Rangpur Riders managed to pick two wickets in quick time.

 

Shakib Al Hasan struck in the third over and gave his side good reasons to celebrate. The Rangpur skipper’s arm ball struck Barisal’s Prasanna in front and the umpire sent the Sri Lankan cricketer back.

 

Darren Sammy and Simmons have muscled Rangpur Riders to 160 on the board, a potentially match-winning score.

 

Simmons scored 73 from 57 balls, and then Sammy’s 23 in 10 were the highlights in Riders’ total, which was more than what their captain asked for at the toss. Shakib would’ve been happy with 140, but the extra 20 runs may prove vital tonight.

 

Bulls skipper would be disappointed with the big overs late in the game, especially when it looked like Barisal would restrict Rangpur to somewhere below 140.

 

Kevon Cooper was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Sami, Al-Amin and Prasanna bagged one wicket apiece.

 

Earlier, Rangpur Riders won the toss and decided to bat first.

 

Sabbir Rahman won `Man of the match` title for his outstanding performance.

 

Rangpur Riders squad:

 

LMP Simmons, Soumya Sarkar, Jahurul Islam, Mohammad Mithun (Wicketkeeper), Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Mohammad Nabi, Al-Amin, NLTC Perera, DJG Sammy, Arafat Sunny, Saqlain Sajib, Muktar Ali, SMSM Senanayake, Misbah-ul-Haq, Murad Khan, Wahab Riaz, Abdullah Al Mamun and Abu Jayed

 

Barisal Bulls squad:

 

Rony Talukdar (Wicketkeeper), CH Gayle, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah (Captain), Mehedi Maruf, RR Emrit, KK Cooper, Nadif Chowdhury, Al-Amin Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Sami, Sharifullah, S Prasanna, Sohag Gazi, E Lewis, Suhrawadi Shuvo, N Dutta, BRM.

 

risingbd/Dhaka/Dec 13, 2015/Nasim