Captain Dasun Shanaka inspired with the bat, while the bowlers did the rest to restrict the opponent for a below-par score to help Cumilla Warriors off to a winning start in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Wednesday.
Cumilla secured a massive 105-run win over Rangpur Rangers as the latter showcased a horrible batting display.
Chasing the challenging target of 174, set by Cumilla, backed by Shanaka’s unbeaten half century, Rangpur faced the humiliation of finishing for just 68 in 14 overs losing nine wickets.
Zakir Hasan was unable to bat for Rangpur after getting injured while fielding.
Rangpur were found clueless in the middle losing wickets at regular intervals.
Opener Naim Sheikh’s 17 off 27 was the highest score as only three other Rangpur batsmen reached double figure.
Cumilla bowlers displayed a joint effort as pacers Al Amin Hossain and Soumya Sarkar and left-arm spinner Sanjamul Islam bagged two wickets each.
Cumilla had a shaky start losing opener Yasir Ali Chowdhury in the first ball of the innings for a duck.
But thunder struck in the latter part of the innings in Mirpur as Shanaka hammered sixes all over the park, and helped Cumilla post a formidable 173 for the loss of seven wickets after their allotted 20 overs.
Electing to bat, Cumilla at one point were struggling on 89 losing six wickets inside 14 overs before Shanaka took on the Rangpur bowlers, striking nine sixes and three fours, and remained unbeaten on a 31 ball 73-run knock.
Cumilla added 65 in the last three overs courtesy as Mustafizur Rahman conceded 26 in the 19th over.
The Bangladesh pacer was looking sharp giving just 12 runs in his first three overs with the wickets of Soumya (26) and Sabbir Rahman (19) only to leak runs in his final over.
Shanaka reached his fifty off just 23 balls, and signed off smashing 23 runs in the final over from Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan, involving three over boundaries and a boundary.
