Chittagong Kings v Duronto Rajshahi, BPL, Mirpur February 15, 2013

Chittagong, Rajshahi in knockout

Match Facts

February 16, Mirpur
Start time 1800 (1200 GMT)

Big Picture

Duronto Rajshahi have enjoyed good luck in the competition, their latest piece of fortune being Rangpur Riders' loss to Barisal Burners on Thursday. The result put Rajshahi, Riders and Burners on ten points each, and Rajshahi qualified because they had won the highest number of matches - three - against the other two teams.

In the upcoming knockout game, Rajshahi's top order will need to play to their potential. Charles Coventry, Simon Katich, Dilshan Munaweera and the captain Chamara Kapugedera will be expected to come good, because often Jahurul Islam has had to resurrect a chase after a top-order collapse. Much will be expected of him too. Allrounder Mukhtar Ali and left-arm spinners Monir Hossain and Naeem Islam jnr have done well, but this will be the biggest game of their careers.

Chittagong Kings have had their ups and downs in the tournament. They won matches with the highest margin, yet at the start of the campaign, they failed to chase 99, against Rajshahi. The loss of Brendan Taylor will also be a blow to them as the Zimbabwean had captained them through a turnaround and scored important runs too.

The winner of this match will have to play another knockout contest to reach the final.

Form guide


(Most recent first)

Chittagong Kings LWLWW

Duronto Rajshahi LLLWW

In the spotlight

Ryan ten Doeschate has had a fruitful first BPL so far. He has a high score of 95 not out and two other fifties. He has also hit 17 sixes, so a lot will depend on him for the Kings to progress.

Jahurul Islam is the standout performer for Rajshahi in the tournament, and the team's highest scorer despite batting lower down the order. His strike-rate of 127 is also remarkable because aggression isn't his strength.

Team news

Although Taylor will not be available for the Kings, Jacob Oram is back and Naeem Islam is also fit to play after stepping on a ball during their second last game.

Chittagong Kings (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Naeem Islam, 3 Ryan ten Doeschate, 4 Mahmudullah (capt), 5 Jacob Oram, 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Kevon Cooper, 8 Enamul Haque jnr, 9 Arafat Sunny, 10 Shaun Tait, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Rajshahi will have a full-strength squad barring Tamim Iqbal.

Duronto Rajshahi (possible) 1 Charles Coventry, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Dilshan Munaweera, 4 Chamara Kapugedera (capt), 5 Jahurul Islam, 6 Sean Ervine, 7 Ziaur Rahman, 8 Mukhtar Ali, 9 Abul Hasan, 10 Monir Hossain, 11 Naeem Islam jnr.

Pitch and conditions

The match is scheduled to begin at 6.00 pm and the biggest concern for teams bowling second is the dew. It is late winter in Bangladesh, so it won't be surprising if the ball becomes wet even in the first innings.

Stats and trivia

  • Ten Doeschate has to score 37 runs to overtake Shahriar Nafees, Brad Hodge and Shamsur Rahman, to become the tournament's highest run-getter.

    Quotes

    "We will definitely miss Brendan Taylor. He was not just the team's best batsman but also someone who managed the team very well."
    Chittagong Kings' coach Khaled Mahmud

    "I will admit that we got lucky to get into the last four, but from this point on, we will need to make our own luck."
    Duronto Rajshahi coach Khaled Mashud

    Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent

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