Before this game, Khulna beat Fortune Barishal and Beximco Dhaka in their two previous games. Khulna now have secured four wins out of six games they have played so far.
With this game, Mohammad Saifuddin took part in Bangabandhu T20 Cup for the first time. He was sidelined at the start of the event due to a leg injury which he has suffered while playing football in a training session.
Khulna won the toss and opted to bowl first in this game and restricted Rajshahi to 145 runs for five wickets in 20 overs. Despite a 38-ball-55 by Najmul Hossain Shanto, Rajshahi failed to post a decent total.
Anisul Islam Emon, who has been playing well in the event, failed this time posting only one. After his dismissal, Rony Talukdar came in and posted 14. Mahedi Hasan and Fazle Mahmud also failed as they posted 9 each this time.
After losing five wickets in 93 runs, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Jaker Ali added 52 runs in the sixth wicket stand which helped them to get close to the 150-run mark.
For Khulna, Shuvagata Hom took two wickets conceding 25 runs in three overs while Al Amin Hossain, Shohidul Islam and Mahmudullah took one wicket each.
In reply, Khulna chased down the target of 146 runs in 19.2 overs with five wickets in hand.
Jahurul Islam and Zakir Hasan added 56 runs and laid a strong foundation to lead Khulna to secure a comfortable win. Jahurul scored 43 while Zakir posted 19. Imrul Kayes (27), Mahmudullah (31*), Ariful Haque (10) also did well for them.
Eventually, Khulna won the game with five wickets in hand in 19.2 overs. They ended up on 146.
For Rajshahi, right-arm pacer Mukidul Islam bagged two wickets while Mohammad Saifuddin, Arafat Sunny and Farhad Reza took one wicket each.
Also read: Mushfiqur guides Dhaka to third win in row