Towhid, Zakir shines with the bat as Sylhet Strikers crush Khulna Tigers
Towhid Hridoy scored 74 off 49 (Twitter)
Riding on a dominating day with the bat, followed by Rubel Hossain’s four-wicket haul, Sylhet Strikers beat Khulna Tigers by in 30th match of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet. The Strikers, who were sitting at the top of the table before this game, further strengthened their top spot with this win.
Towhid and Zakir propels Sylhet to above-par total
After being put into bat first, Sylhet Strikers got off to a poor start as they lost their inform Najmul Shanto early in the powerplay, who had a very struggling stay in the middle. Zakir Hasan, at three, joined Towhid Hridoy in the middle and the duo started to rebuild the innings, extracting a 16-run over to end the powerplay.
The first eight overs were all spin and as soon as the seamers came in, both Towhid and Zakir started to open their hands. Both of them completed their half centuries and went on to add 114 runs for the second wicket.
However, Khulna Tigers did try to cease the flow of runs with three quick wickets but Ryan Burl and Thisara Perera’s late fireworks added thirty runs in the last two overs and Sylhet finished with 192 for four in twenty overs.
Rubel's 4-fer stifles Khulna's chase
Rubel Hossain takes 4-fer. (Twitter)
In reply, Khulna Tigers got off to a poor start, losing both the openers, Tamim Iqbal and Andrew Balbirnie early in the powerplay. Shai Hope and Mahmudul Hasan Joy came together to start the rebuilding process. Hope was looking impressive but was soon sent back by Rejaur Rahman Raja and the Tigers were 79 for three at the halfway mark.
Azam Khan, batting at five, joined Mahmudul in the middle and started to up the run rate, hitting Perera for 17 in the 12th over but departed after a 17-ball 33. With that, it all went downhill for the chasing side.
Skipper Yasir Ali could not add much and departed for four off eight. The Tigers went on to lose nine wickets and fell a massive 31-run short of Sylhet. With the ball, Rubel Hossain, who gave early breakthroughs in the powerplay, went on to take four wickets in four overs.Rejaur and Mohammad Amir also bowled well, grabbing one wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Sylhet Strikers: 192/4 (20 Overs)
Towhid Hridoy 74 (49), Zakir Hasan 63 (38)
Mark Deyal 2/40, Nahidul Islam 1/25;
Khulna Tigers: 161/9 (20 Overs)
Azam Khan 33 (17), Shai Hope 33 (22);
Rubel Hossain 4/37, Mohammad Amir 2/28
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