Khulna Tigers captain Mushfiqur Rahim plays a shot during their Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League match against Rajshahi Royals at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Tuesday.— BCB photo
Khulna Tigers skipper Mushfiqur Rahim missed out on his maiden Twenty20 hundred but powered his side to a five-wicket win over Rajshahi Royals in the first match of the Chattogram phase of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Tuesday.
Mushfiq smashed 96 off 51 balls, his best ever score in BPL, to take his side to 192-5 in 19.4 overs after Rajshahi rode on Shoaib Malik’s 87 off 50 balls to post 189-4 in their stipulated overs after being sent to bat first.
Mushfiq, who hit nine fours and four sixes in his rollicking innings, squandered his chance of becoming the fifth Bangladeshi to hit a BPL hundred when he gave a catch to Malik off Ravi Bopara in the third ball of the final over when his side required another two-run to win.
Robbie Frylinck (14 off six balls not out), however, didn’t allow any late drama, hitting the next ball for a boundary to bring up Khulna’s second-straight win in the tournament.
Earlier, Khulna got off to a rocky start after losing both openers inside three overs for 25 runs but Mushfiq and Rilee Rossouw then began their rebuild.
The pair added 73 off 53 balls for the third wicket to swing the momentum back in their favour but pacer Kamrul Islam
broke their resistance by dismissing Rossouw for 42 in the 12th over.
Mushfiq, however, continued playing aggressively, bringing up his fifty off just 30 balls and was well supported by Shamsur Rahman (29 off 20 balls) before Andre Russell, who finished with 2-41, dismissed the latter with Khulna needing another 32-run off the last three overs.
Mushfiq and Frylinck then killed the contest by scoring 28 runs from the next two overs, with Mushfiq hitting a crucial six and a four in consecutive deliveries off Russell in the penultimate over and Frylick remaining unbeaten till the end to see their team through.
Rajshahi, earlier, posted a challenging total despite being reduced to 26-2 in 4.1 overs thanks to a fourth wicket stand of 106 off just 61 balls between Malik and Bopara (40 off 26 ball not out), the highest partnership for any wicket so far in this edition.
Malik was dismissed by compatriot Mohammad Amir, who finished with 2-36, in the 19th over to miss out on a hundred but Russell hit a six-ball 13 to take their side to a total that later proved to be insufficient.
This was Rajshahi’s first defeat in the tournament after two wins while Khulna have won both their fixtures in BPL-7 so far.
Source: New Age.