The sudden rain might disrupt the game for an hour but couldn’t dent the mood of Barisal Bulls who showed yet another ruthless performance to secure a six-wicket win over Rangpur Riders yesterday by D/L method at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
The victory, their fifth in six matches, took them in advantageous position to seal the last-four berth as the first team. They once again lived up to the reputation of the best bowling unit in this BPL by restricting Rangpur Riders, a team boasted with some effective batsmen, to 104 for nine. The bowlers’ effort made them outright favourite in the game but the sudden drizzle delayed the inevitable.
Riders’ only hope was lying whether they could take the advantage of the distraction of Bulls batsmen’s concentration, resulted by rain but that was never happened as they overcame the revised target of 75 in 12.3 overs. After the rain the target for Bulls was 75 in 13 overs which meant they had to score 57 off 56 as they were 19 for one in 3.3 overs before the rain halted the game.
But the start of Riders was stark contrast to what happened at the end. Being sent to bat first, Jahurul Islam Omee smashed a six with a confident scoop shot off Mohammad Sami, indicating a bustling beginning for the team. However the rot began in the second over when Soumya Sarkar got a first-ball duck off Al-Amin Hossain who also scalped Shakib Al Hasan for one in the last ball of the same over. Left arm spinner Taijul Islam worsened situation having nailed Mohammad Mithun, the most consistent batsman in Riders tent for 2. But the real blow came via Bulls’ West Indian recruit Rayad Ryan Emrit who was playing his first match in the tournament. Emrit got rid of Omee, the only Riders player who was playing with utmost confidence and looked set to bail the side out of danger. Amid the wickets tumbling around him, Omee scored 24 off 32, adding another four to his scooped-six.
Onus was left on experienced Misbah-ul-Haque and Thisara Perera who huffed and puffed in the face of some accurate bowling of Bulls bowlers, yet resisted wickets falling. Sekugge Prasanna ended the short 28 but best partnership of Riders innings, by removing his compatriot Perera for 9. It left Riders to 54 for five and it was a matter whether could take the score past 100. Misbah’s 22, Al-Amin’s 17 and Wahab Riaz’s 12 finally helped the side propel past 100 but they knew it wasn’t a total that they could defend against a side who has been running in rampant fashion.
Yet they got the kind of start what they were craving for. Wahab Riaz removed Evin Lewis, fresh from his maiden BPL century for 4. Riders looked cheered up after the fall of dangerman and much to their relief rain arrived with Rony Talukdar and Mehedi Maruf in the crease.
As the game started, Riders bowlers dismissed Rony (23)and Maruf (3) in the space of three overs, leaving Bulls to 42 for three and raised prospect of making the things hard for the opponents. Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad (23*) woke up in the face of adversities, aided by Nadif Chowdhury (16) and took the side closer to victory.