The Rangpur Riders secured their third win of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2023, with a 55-run victory over the Chattogram Challengers on Monday in Dhaka.
BPL has made its return to Dhaka after a long stint in Chattogram. During this phase in Dhaka, a total of four matches will be played before the league moves on to Sylhet.
The Challengers won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Riders posted a challenging total of 179/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Opener Mohammad Naim got off to a steady start, scoring 34 runs off 29 balls, but the real star of the innings was middle-order batsman Shoaib Malik, who smashed an unbeaten 75 off 45 balls, including five fours and five sixes. Azmatullah Omarzai also contributed with a quick-fire 42 off 24 deliveries.
For the Challengers, Mehedi Hasan Rana picked up three wickets conceding 39 runs while Shuvagata Hom took two wickets.
The Challengers got off to a poor start in response, losing opener Usman Khan for 4 in the first over. Khawaja Nafay and Tawfique Khan also fell cheaply, leaving the Challengers in a precarious position at 21/3 in the third over.
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However, a valiant 52-run knock by skipper Shuvagata and a quick-fire 24 runs from Ziaur Rahman kept the Challengers in the hunt, but in the end, it wasn't enough as they fell short by 55 run, scoring 124 losing all wickets in 16.34 overs.
Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for the Riders, taking 3 wickets for 17 runs in his 4 overs, while Rakibul Hasan scalped two wickets.
Despite bowling a couple of overs while his team was fielding, Afif Hossain was unable to bat for the Challengers. A Challengers source has claimed that he fell ill during the break in between innings.
Riders now have 3 wins and 3 losses from their six games played, while Challengers have just 2 wins to go with 5 defeats after seven games played.