Rajshahi Royals registered their second consecutive win in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Friday beating Sylhet Thunder by eight wickets at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Royals won the toss and sent Thunder to bat first, who tumbled for 91 - the second lowest score of this BPL so far. Royals chased the total (95/2) in 10.5 overs.
During the chase, Hazratullah Zazai was sent back to the pavilion for a duck, but in the second wicket, Liton Das and Afif Hossain added 62 runs.
While Afif fell for 30 off 25 balls with three fours and two sixes, Liton remained unbeaten at 44 off 26 with seven fours. Shoaib Malik and Liton guided Royals to their second successive win.
Nayeem Hasan and Naveen-ul-Haq took one wicket each.
Earlier, Thunder managed a decent opening stand of 35 runs in 3.5 overs. Johnson Charles hit a six and a four in the first over off Andre Russell. In next over off Abu Jayed Rahi, Rony Talukdar hit another six.
But the raging Thunder were stunned after losing three wickets – Charles (19), Rony (16) and Jeevan Mendis – while going from 35 to 41.
Royals’ leg-spinning all-rounder Alok Kapali removed Charles and Mendis in back to back deliveries. Thunder were never able to recover.
However, in the fourth wicket stand, captain Mosaddek Hossain and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun added 31 runs to the board. But their efforts were not enough to make a big difference in their over-all batting display.
Thunder lost their fourth wicket at 72 runs, and their remaining wickets within 15.3 overs. Both Mosaddek and Mithun posted 20 runs each.
Alok Kapali bagged three wickets conceding 17 runs in three overs while Ravi Bopara and Farhad Reza bagged two wickets each for the Royals.
Thunder will take on Dhaka Platoon in their next game on December 14 at Sher-e-Bangla while the Royals will face Khulna Tigers on December 17 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
