Jayed, Brathwaite stifle Chittagong for second Khulna win

Khulna Titans' late charge with the bat led them to an 18-run win over Chittagong Vikings in Mirpur. Carlos Brathwaite and Ariful Haque struck six sixes in 16 deliveries to put up a commanding 170 for 7 in 20 overs.

Chittagong's chances of a successful chase took a big hit in the first over when they lost the in-form Luke Ronchi. The wicket-taker, Abu Jayed, blew away the rest of the top order and struck again later in the innings to seal his maiden four-wicket haul in T20s.

Sikandar Raza was the only batsman who tried to keep up with the required rate but once he fell in the 14th over, so did Chittagong.

Chadwick Walton and Michael Klinger were taken out by left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam. Walton was dismissed in the first over, delivering a long hop down deep midwicket's throat. Klinger was given lbw to a better ball, although the decision was debatable. It looked like umpire Mahfuzur Rahman was initially not ready to give it out, with the ball shaping to go down leg. But eventually he raised the finger, all but buckling under the pressure of a long and insistent appeal.

Offspinner Dilshan Munaweera bowled Nazmul Islam Shanto in the fifth over before Mahmudullah and Rilee Rossouw added 39 runs for the fourth wicket to lead a bit of recovery. But Taskin got rid of Rossouw in the 10th over. Mahmudullah added a further 35 runs for the fifth wicket with Ariful Haque, but the run-rate was going nowhere. Khulna were 103 for 5 with only 27 balls left.

Khulna's chances of a competitive total rested almost entirely on Brathwaite. He struck his second ball for six, a monstrous blow over long-on off Taskin Ahmed's bowling, and even as Chittagong tried to regroup, the ball went soaring again, this time over deep square leg. Brathwaite finished with 30 off 14, although he did survive a very close lbw shout from Sunzamul in the 17th over with the ball seemingly striking him in line with the stumps. Chittagong's misery would only increase when Ariful hit Tanbir Hayder's legspin for 24 runs, which included three sixes over midwicket and long-on, to propel the total towards 150. In all, Khulna made 60 runs in the last four overs.

Chittagong had slipped to 38 for 4 in the fifth over of their 171-run chase, with Jayed knocking over Ronchi and Soumya Sarkar in the first over and Munaweera in the third. Rossouw played a major hand in the third wicket by taking a superb running catch at deep square leg. Anamul Haque then holed out to mid-off, having made just 18.

Raza and captain Misbah-ul-Haq added 59 runs for the fifth wicket. Raza struck two sixes off Mosharraf Hossain, both over midwicket, before falling to Shafiul Islam for 37 off 27 balls.

Misbah fell in the 16th over, having made 30 off 37 balls with just two fours, caught by Shanto at long-on to give Jayed his first four-wicket haul. The 24-year old may not have finished very well, conceding 17 runs in his last over, but he remains one of the more impressive Bangladeshi pace bowlers in the tournament so far.