Rangpur climb to second place after comfortable win

Rangpur Riders inflicted three timely run-outs and then batted well to beat Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets. The win meant that Rangpur, Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls now have 10 points each on the table, while Dhaka are in fourth place with six points, and still need to strengthen their lead over Chittagong Vikings and Sylhet Super Stars, who have four points each.

The fielding was the main difference between the two sides. Dhaka misfielded several times, especially Sohail Khan at the boundary, while Rangpur made sure that their bowling wasn't going to be the only thing attacking Dhaka as they limited the side to 135 for 7. Jahurul Islam was in charge of the chase for most of the time, ending with an unbeaten 35 off 26 balls with four boundaries.

When Rangpur's chase began, however, there were plenty of plays and misses from the Rangpur openers - Soumya Sarkar and Lendl Simmons - in the first six overs. Soumya hit just the two fours and a magnificent pull off Sohail Khan in the fifth over but in the following over, Abul Hasan had him caught at mid-off as he attempted to bunt the medium-pacer. Simmons was caught at point off the same bowler, after making only 18. Rangpur's chase received a further jolt when, in the 12th over, Mustafizur Rahman duped Shakib Al Hasan to give a catch to mid-on to make the score 74 for 3.

Sammy had a terrible time at the start of his innings, missing deliveries against Mustafizur and Abul, but just as things were getting tougher for Rangpur, Shykat Ali was given a third over with 54 needed off 42 balls. Sammy struck two fours and Jahurul got one past the wicketkeeper to take 16 runs off the over. In the next over, the pair combined to hit Sohail Khan for three fours in a 15-run over. The target came down to 23 off 30 balls.

Mohammad Irfan had Sammy drag one on to the stumps after making a 21-ball 23, with 17 needed off the last 24 balls. Jahurul kept his cool and, with Thisara Perera, made sure the win was achieved with 10 balls to spare.

When Dhaka decided to bat, the 45-run, fourth-wicket partnership between Nasir Hossain and Kumar Sangakkara was the best part of their batting. That partnership helped the side overcome a sluggish start after they had slipped to 39 for 3 in the seventh over. Shadman Islam was the first to go, run out by Soumya Sarkar's direct hit in the fourth over. Shamsur Rahman was struck in front against Shakib, before Shykat, impressive while hitting the two fours and the six, holed out at long-off for 18.

Sangakkara and Nasir worked on picking the singles and twos, and occasionally found the boundary; the stand-out shot was Sangakkara's inside-out six over cover off Mohammad Nabi in the 11th over. The partnership had the potential to push the total past the 150-mark, especially after Arafat Sunny dropped Sangakkara on 29 but, off the very next ball, Shakib's direct hit from short midwicket found the batsman inches short of the crease.

Nasir made a 28-ball 30 and, after Sangakkara's dismissal, tried to push the run-rate. He even struck a six off Sunny but was gone next ball after the bowler turned it and beat Nasir's charge. Ryan ten Doeschate swept one straight down deep square-leg's throat in the 18th over before Mosaddek Hossain was run out trying to run a bye after Thisara Perera bowled a wide at the end of the penultimate over.

Apart from Sunny's two-wicket haul and the three run-outs, Sammy and Shakib had one wicket each.