Khulna razed by all-round Sylhet

Sylhet 196 for 3 (Chanderpaul 66, Stirling 66) beat Khulna Royal Bengals 135 for 7 (Mithun 60, Nabi 3-28) by 61 runs
Scorecard

Sylhet Royals bounced back from a lacklustre performance against Chittagong Kings in their last match, as they crushed Khulna Royal Bengals by 61 runs. Their openers, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Paul Stirling helped lay the foundation for the big victory with a 134-run stand.

They scored 66 each, striking 19 fours and three sixes between them, to lead Sylhet to 196 for 3 in their 20 overs. Chanderpaul used the crease expertly during his innings, and even employed the switch-hit a number of times with mixed results. He had more success with the sweeps, which he played between square leg and the wicketkeeper. Stirling drove belligerently for most of his innings, thriving on the strike he was fed by Chanderpaul.

After the openers fell and the Royals needed a final flourish, Nazmul Hossain Milon played his best innings of the tournament. He hit five sixes in an unbeaten 14-ball 36 that took the Royals' total close to the 200-mark. He struck five sixes, and was much more aggressive than Elton Chigumbura, with whom he shared an unbroken 52-run stand.

Royal Bengals couldn't make amends with the bat. Mithun Ali and Riki Wessels added 84 runs for the fifth wicket, after their top order was dismissed cheaply, to reduce the margin of defeat. Mithun scored 60 off 47 balls, his first major contribution in this year's competition.

This was Sylhet's eighth win in the tournament, but they remained in second position behind Dhaka Gladiators, while Khulna end their campaign with nine losses out of 12 games.