BPL 4, Match 31, Review: Rajshahi Kings emerge as the stronger one in battle of collapses

Rangpur Riders seemed to be cruising this season. However, a couple of shock defeats got them a reality check. The Rajshahi Kings, on the other hand, have looked like an entirely different unit in the last two games. The prime reason for the resurgence being skipper Darren Sammy coming back to supreme form.

Coming in to the match, Rangpur Riders were up against Rajshahi Kings in the 31st match of the season. The Rangpur Riders had an early jolt as their skipper Naeem Islam was ruled out of the match. Liam Dawson was the stand-in skipper in his absence. Dawson did not have a good time at the toss. The Rajshahi Kings won the toss and opted to bat first.

They did not tinker with their winning combination and stuck to the same unit. The Rangpur Riders drafted in Muktar Ali as a replacement for Naeem Islam. Among the overseas players, Anwar Ali was left out of the playing eleven to make way for Nasir Jamshed.

Mominul Haque opened the innings with Junaid Siddique for the Rajshahi Kings. Rubel Hossain struck in his very first over as he got an edge off the bat of Siddique (2). Mohammad Shahzad completed an easy catch. In walked Sabbir Rahman to join Mominul at the crease. A boundary each from both batters gave some respite after the early jolt.

Mominul (9) perished soon in the 5th over as he was caught and bowled by Arafat Sunny. Sunny managed to scalp the wicket of Samit Patel (2) in the same over. Abul Hasan (2) became the third victim of Sunny’s dream spell as the innings looked in tatters. Umar Akmal (1) was cleaned up by his Pakistan team mate Shahid Afridi.

Skipper Darren Sammy’s merry run ended cheaply on 5 as he was bowled by Liam Dawson. Sabbir Rahman, the only batsman to get into double digits among the top 7, fell to Afridi after scoring 16 off 20 balls. The innings fell like ten pins as Rajshahi Kings reeled on 43/7 in 9.2 overs.

Mehedi Hasan and Farhad Reza had some serious task in front of them from thereon. The two youngster played exceptionally well to take Kings to safety. They showed great maturity as they not only kept the wickets intact but took calculated risks too. An unbeaten 85-run stand off just 64 balls saw Rajshahi Kings post a decent 128/7 in their 20 overs.

Hasan managed to score an unbeaten 41 off 33 balls with 3 fours and a six. Reza remained not out on 44 off 32 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. Arafat Sunny was the pick of the bowlers with 3/31 to his name. Afridi bowled yet another clinical spell with 2/10 in his four overs.

The run chase did not have a different story either. Rangpur Riders struggled with the bat too with only 2 of their batsmen getting in the double digits. Soumya Sarkar (1) was the first to go as Mehedi Hasan struck with the ball in the 3rd over. He was stumped by Umar Akmal.

Mohammad Shahzad poor run in the second half of the season continued. He fell to Mohammad Sami after scoring 12. Nasir Jamshed (1) disappointed yet again and so did skipper Liam Dawson (2). At the end of the powerplay, the Rangpur Riders struggled at 29/4. The big hitting Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi went back to the pavilion after hitting a four in his 7.

Umar Akmal stumped three batsmen in the innings and that showed the lack of patience among the Rangpur batsmen. Mohammad Mithun looked good for his 20 (21) but was sent packing by Samit Patel in the 10th over. At the half way stage, the Riders were on 50/6. With 79 needed off 60 balls and 4 wickets in hand, it could have been anybody’s game.

However, wickets kept tumbling and no other batsman could get into the double digits. Wickets were evenly shared by the Rajshahi Kings bowlers. Nazmul Islam and Abul Hasan bagged 3 wickets each. Mehedi Hasan was good with his double blow. Sami and Samit bagged a wicket each.

The Rajshahi Kings won by 49 runs. This is the second consecutive defeat for the Rangpur Riders and the third consecutive win for the Rajshahi Kings.

Brief Scores:

Rajshahi Kings: 128/7 in 20 overs (Reza 44*, Hasan 41*, Sunny 3/31, Afridi 2/10)

Rangpur Riders: 79/10 in 17.4 overs (Mithun 21, Shahzad 12, Nazmul 3/8, Abul 3/11)