Rangpur Riders have been in top form for the second consecutive week in BPL 2024-25, extending their winning tally to 7 out of 7 to get within striking distance of the playoffs. And they made it fun. Both wins in last week’s match at Sylhet came in the last over, one of them on the last ball.
Against Fortune Barishal, their captain Nurul Hasan scored 30 runs off Kyle Mayers in the last match to secure a three-wicket win. Then it was the turn of the fielders and bowlers to put up a late comeback against the Khulna Tigers. They picked up three wickets bowled by Mohammad Saifuddin in the last over and won by eight runs.
Like Rangpur, Chittagong Kings also won both their matches in Sylhet, beating Dhaka Capitals and Sylhet Strikers very comfortably. Dhaka and Sylhet also opened their accounts in the contest, with Durbar Rajshahi also winning a game in the Sylhet leg.
Nurul’s snatch against Barishal was one of the many batting highlights of the past week.
Zakir Hasan and Usman Khan scored two half-centuries each. Litton Das scored 73 and his maiden T20 century of 125 while Tanzid Hasan scored 108 with Litton against Rajshahi and the pair put on 241 for the first wicket.
Unfortunately for Litton, his sudden burst of form came a little late as he was left out of Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy squad. He scored his century in the evening after the squad was announced in the afternoon.
Usman dominated the powerplay in both Chittagong’s wins, building good partnerships in the process as well. After hitting 123 off 62 balls in Chittagong’s 105-run win over Rajshahi, this week Usman hit 55 off 33 balls against Dhaka and then 53 off 35 balls against Sylhet. We won by 30 points. In fact, his form and that of other batsmen such as Graham Clark, Haider Ali and Shamim Hossain have been central to Chittagong’s recent surge.
Best Bowler – Mohammad Saifuddin
Although no bowler did much this week, many players made notable contributions.
Khaled Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim performed well in Chittagong’s two wins. Akif Javed also bowled a match-winning spell, taking three wickets in Rangpur’s win over Khulna. Meanwhile, Rahkeem Cornwall was the only spinner to hit three this week as Sylhet secured a win over Dhaka.
But the standout performance was Saifuddin’s outstanding final against Khulna. Khulna needed 12 runs from 6 balls and was the favorite to pull it off, although he was down 6 runs at the start of the over.
Saifuddin stuck to a yorker, started the over with two dot balls and then bowled wide, but Rangpur got three wickets in three balls in a panic set at the Khulna camp. Mohammad Nawaz and Nasum Ahmed were out in successive balls while Saifuddin gave away a run off the last ball after removing Abu Hider.
Nurul became the second batsman to score 30 runs in the last over of a T20 match, and his 30 runs put Rangpur third in the list of most runs scored in the last over of a men’s T20 match.
Meanwhile, Sabbir Rahman scored his first BPL half-century in five years, hitting 82 off 33 balls with nine sixes and three fours. But that wasn’t enough as Chittagong won the match against Dhaka.
Litton scored his first T20 century in his 227th match in the format.
Rangpur is the clear leader. Chittagong have been a surprising package and currently sit in second place with six points from four games. Barishal, who entered the tournament as one of the favourites, came in third with six points but has played one more game than Chittagong. Khulna, Sylhet and Rajshahi will face stiff competition for the fourth play-off spot, but Dhaka, who have one win in seven games, will need a big late charge to stand a chance.
