Sylhet Royals retained their winning streak in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 Season 2 beating the home side Chittagong Kings by three wickets at the MA Aziz Stadium here Monday. 
Replying to 172 posted by Chittagong Kings for 6 wickets riding on opener Naeem Islam’s 72, Sylhet Royals overhauled the target scoring 176 for 7 in 19.3 overs with contributions from Irish top order Paul Stirling (38) and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi (43), Nazmul Hossain Milon (32) and Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura (31*). Number nine Suhrawardi Shuvo found the winning runs hitting a four off a Rubel Hossain delivery in the 3rd ball of the last over. In the first ball of the over, Elton Chigumbura smashed a six over the long on when the Royals needed 8 runs with three wickets in hand. Earlier, asked to bat first, Naeem Islam and Ravi Bopara provided the Chittagong Kings a terrific platform putting 78 runs off 54 balls in the opening stand. English batsman Ravi Bopara scored 34 runs off 29 balls with three fours and a six while his partner Naeem Islam played a prolific 52-ball 72 that included nine fours. Naeem smashed boundaries through the square leg fence with handsome sweeps. He also produced some slog-sweeps dragging the over-pitched deliveries on the outside of the off-stumps. But after his dismissal in the 17th over (143-5), number five Ryan ten Doeschate (21 off 10) and number six Jacob Oram (13 off 12) added some runs. Eventually, the Chittagong Kings managed a below par total (172) compared to the start their openers provided. Slow left-arm Suhrawardi Shuvo, though expensive, picked up the crucial wicket of Naeem Islam and ten Doeschate for 35 runs while off-break Sohag Gazi claimed two wickets for 21 runs in 3.1 overs. Chasing 173 runs, Sylhet Royals felt an early jolt as opener Hamilton Masakadza (0) got out to a Jacob Oram’s back off length in the third ball of the first over. As Masakadza came down the track and skied the ball, it went to the long on area where ten Doeschate pulled off a brilliant diving catch. Sylhet Royals lost one down Mominul Haque (6) in the 4th over and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (4) in the 7th over wi
