Shamsur Rahman, Nasir Hossain lead Rangpur to victory

Shamsur Rahman's 52 off 45 balls helped Rangpur Riders register their first win in this year's Bangladesh Premier League, as they beat Chittagong Kings by six wickets in Khulna on Tuesday. Set 133 to chase, Rangpur overcame some early stutters as Rahman and, later, Nasir Hossain made significant contributions to the innings.

Credit for Rangpur's win should also go to the bowlers who put in a disciplined effort to restrict Chittagong to 135 for 5. By the time the Powerplay overs were bowled, Chittagong had lost three wickets for just 21 runs - a poor start after they chose to bat first.

Fidel Edwards and Dimitri Mascarenhas, Rangpur's newest arrivals, bowled accurately, forcing the Chittagong batsmen to play too many shots. A great catch by Taposh Ghosh also helped matters. Ghosh ran from deep-square leg to fine leg and dived forward to catch Naeem Islam, who mistimed a hook shot off Kevin O'Brien.

Chittagong captain Mahmudullah and Brendan Taylor added 73 runs for the fourth wicket but their progress was slow by T20 standards. Taylor made 65 off 51 balls with seven fours and a couple of fine sixes straight down the ground. The big-hitters, Jacob Oram and Ravi Bopara, failed to provide a final flourish.

Edwards, Mascarenhas, Kevin O'Brien and Rangpur captain Abdur Razzak took a wicket each but, more importantly, the experienced bowlers kept the runs in check.

Shamsur Rahman, a talented but inconsistent batsman, played sensibly after losing his opening partner Imrul Kayes for a duck in the first over. The O'Brien brothers didn't contribute much to the innings: Kevin O'Brien was cleaned up by Shaun Tait's pace, while Niall fell to Mahmudullah's offspin.

Nasir Hossain and Shamsur were relentless against the spinners as they added 68 runs for the fourth wicket, taking Rangpur to the brink of victory. Nasir was unbeaten on 45 runs off 33 balls, which included five fours and a straight six off Tait.