Out of favour England all-rounder Samit Patel bludgeoned a 39-ball 75 to help Rajshahi Kings surge to a thrilling three-wicket victory against Dhaka Dynamites during a BPL group stage encounter at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
The powerful right-hander was ably assisted by Bangladesh opener Mominul Haque even as handy contributions from Dwayne Bravo and Kumar Sangakkara went in vain. With nine runs required from the final over, Mehedi Hasan Miraz kept his nerve to complete their second victory in this BPL edition.
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Bravo had brought the Dynamites back into the contest when the curtains were closing in on them. The Caribbean white-ball specialist delivered a scintillating penultimate over by conceding just three runs and got rid of the dangerous Darren Sammy too. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan gave the final over to Kent’s Matt Coles as both Bravo as well as Mohammad Shahid had completed their full quota.
Even though Coles began promisingly by dismissing Abul Hasan, he gave away a couple of boundaries to let slip the initiative. That the chase became a reality was thanks to a vital 100-run third wicket partnership between Patel and Mominul. While the former took on the aggressor role, the latter chipped in with a solid half-century to take the game away from Dhaka’s reach.
Earlier, they rode on Sangakkara’s determined knock to register a challenging total. The retired Sri Lankan maestro defied his age and showed that his hunger for run-making was still intact by smashing five boundaries as well as three sixes.
The hard-hitting Seekkuge Prasanna added much-needed impetus to their cause with a cavalier 34 from only 16 balls. However, it did not turn out to be enough for Dynamites whose push for the top slot was dented by the narrow defeat.
Brief Scores: Dhaka Dynamites – 182/4 from 20 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 66, Mehedi Maruf 35, Seekkuge Prasanna 34*, Farhad Reza 2-22, Mohammad Sami 1-20); Rajshahi Kings – 184/7 from 19.5 overs (Samit Patel 75, Mominul Haque 56, Dwayne Bravo 3-35, Mohammad Shahid 2-29)
Result: Rajshahi Kings won by three wickets with one ball remaining
Nerveless Nabi denies Comilla
Afghanistan’s X-factor Mohammad Nabi continued his stunning form in the tournament by propelling Chittagong Vikings to a nerve-wracking victory over Comilla Victorians at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium later in the day.
The all-rounder followed up his 87 against Rajshahi Kings with another sublime knock which contained five boundaries and two sixes. His unbeaten 46 ensured that the seemingly steep target was reached in some style.
Chittagong’s chase got off to a breezy start with the burly Dwayne Smith unleashing a flurry of boundaries. Following a consolidating stand between Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque, they threatened to lose their way in the middle overs. But, Nabi combined brilliantly with the seasoned Shoaib Malik to resurrect their fortunes.
Earlier, Pakistan’s latest T20I opener Khalid Latif flayed the Chittagong bowlers to all parts of the ground during his 53-ball 76. The 31-year old was not afraid to take the aerial route as evidenced by his 5 towering sixes. Nabi came in for some special treatment from the right-hander and conceded as many as three of those maximums in the 14th over.
Latif formed useful partnerships with Imrul Kayes and his fellow countryman Ahmed Shehzad to propel Comilla to a formidable total. Coming in at number four, Shehzad showed more urgency than his previous few matches by rotating the strike in a convincing manner. But, Nabi made their efforts redundant by redeeming himself with the bat and pulling Chittagong into the top four.
Brief Scores: Comilla Victorians – 183/3 from 20 overs (Khalid Latif 76, Ahmed Shehzad 40*, Imrul Kayes 36, Taskin Ahmed 1-44); Chittagong Vikings – 186/4 from 19.2 overs (Mohammad Nabi 46*, Anamul Haque 40, Shoaib Malik 38, Ryan ten Doeschate 2-15, Sohail Tanvir 1-33)
Result: Chittagong Vikings won by six wickets with four balls remaining
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