Dhaka – Comilla Victorian’s revived their hope for the last four places as they registered an exciting eight runs win over Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 held on Sunday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.Chasing a winning target of 170 for six wickets, Rangpur Riders fell short of 8 runs as they could only muster 162 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs.Rangpur while chasing, got off to a quick start as they raced to 48 for no loss, but out of form Soumya Sarkar once again cut a sorry figure as he could contribute only 5 runs off 12 deliveries out of 48 runs for the opening stand,UNB news agency reported.Mashrafe Mortaza and Nabil Samad bowled brilliant spell for Comilla as they reduced Rangpur from 48 for no loss to 57 for 4 with both of them sharing the spoils equally.Rangpur batsmen went into their shell as run rate plunged below the asking rate. However, Rangpur’s Pakistani recruit star all rounder Shahed Afridi kept a faint alive for Riders with a cameo 38 off 19 balls (4X3, 6X1).Ziaur Rahman made some desperate attempt in the end to reduce the gap with a quick fire 38 not out (22 balls) which was studded with one boundary and three towering sixes. Sadly he failed to get any encouraging support from the other end.Rashid was the pick of the Comilla bowler as he finished with a flattering figure of three wickets for 13 runs from four overs. Mashrafe and Nabil collected two wickets each for 27 and 35 runs respectively.Earlier, Comilla got off to rip roaring start as their openers Imrul Kayes and Khalid Latif put on 88 runs for the first wicket partnership.Rangpur captain Naeem Islam won the toss and invited Comilla to bat first. Both Imrul and Khalid made Naeem rue his decision as Rangpur bowlers were punished miserably while they were spanked all around the stadium.The first-wicket stand reached 88 in 10.2 overs when Arafat Sunny sent back Imrul. Imrul notched a superb 52 from 35 balls with seven fours and two sixes as Khalid too compiled a classy 43 from 36. Some big hitting from Ashar Zaidi and Rashid Khan in the end saw Victorians recorded their second highest total of BPL 2016 scoring 170 for 6.For Rangpur, Rubel Hossain and Arafat took two wickets each. Rubel gave away 30 runs in four overs while Arafat conceded 29 in three. Rashid Khan with a fine all round performance was adjudged as man of the match.Comilla has now collected 10 points while Rangpur had to remain happy with 12 points. Both teams have played 12 matches each.
