Gayle lives up to billing with 6-filled knock
Sports Reporter
Chris Gayle lived up to the expectation of sending the Bangladeshi crowd delirium with a six-filled knock as Chittagong Vikings moved to the third position in the BPL-4 point table with a crushing nine-wicket victory over Rangpur Riders yesterday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. On his first match in the BPL-4, Gayle hammered 26 ball-40 with two fours and four towering sixes that gave the Vikings a momentum in gunning down Riders paltry total of 124 for five with four overs to spare. Working on Gayles dazzling start, skipper Tamim Iqbal led the side in acquiring the comprehensive victory, hitting an unbeaten 62 off 48 with one six and nine fours, last of which sealed the deal. Anamul Haque Bijoy was not out on 22.
Gayle however made a quiet start that was a mere prelude of a massive storm. After getting him set, he got off the mark with a boundary off Rubel and then in came Sohag Gazi, his old nemesis who stormed to the international cricket circuit making Gayle his bunny.
Gazi so far neutralized Gayle in his first three overs but once the Jamaican stalwart got him set, he didnt spare even the good ball of Gazi. Gayle lit up night sky of Dhaka by smashing consecutive two sixes off Gazis last over, one of which landed at the second tier of international gallery.
Gayle however was hit on his thumb off Rubel Hossain delivery later but got a lucky four as it beat the diving wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun.
Shahid Afridi also felt the wrath of Gayle thereafter as he took him disdain with two successive sixes but the similar attempt got the better of him and stopped the Gayle storm. Once Gayle was dismissed, the crowd also started leaving the stadium.
But who still stayed in the stadium was entertained by Tamim-special. The Chittagong captain wasnt marauding like Gayle but his attacking knock was also eye-catching and more importantly he hastened the victory with his third half-century in the tournament to leave his sides net-run-rate in healthy state. The way the point table was moving, the net-run-rate could be crucial in determining the top four teams.
Rangpur batsmen started well with the openers Mohammad Shahzad and Soumya Sarkar got going well from the beginning. Soumya specially was more attacking mood, indicating to shrug off his bad patch. The two fours and one six in his 21 ball-26, spoke the volume of his confidence. When it looked he could make more carnage, Shuvashis Roy stalled the progress with the wicket of Soumya.
In form Mohammad Mithun kept the rhythm, given by Soumya and Rangur started heading towards big total. However Chittagong struck back through Taskin Ahmed who dealt a double blow in the space of three balls to lift the mood of his side and demolished Rangpur completely.
His searing pace basically caused the distraction of Mithun and Shahzad who scored 12 and 21 runs respectively. After Taskins double blow, Chittagong bowlers strangled the Rangpur batsmen by bowling in a disciplined manner. Tamim Iqbals captaincy was also eye catching at this phase as he set fielding such way that there was hardly any opportunity for the batsmen to pick up the gaps. The bowlers also gave rare loose balls to hit and reaped the rewards of regular wickets. Anwar Ali however in his desperate bid to accumulate runs took some big hits that propelled the side past 120 eventually. Anwar Ali was not out on 20. Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Nabi claimed two wickets apiece for the Chittagong Vikings.
