BPL 2019-20: Shane Watson, Mustafizur Rahman sink Sylhet Thunder in lopsided match
Rangpur Rangers skipper Shane Watson (68) played his best knock of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2019 so far to inspire his team to a 38-run victory over Sylhet Thunder. Mustafizur Rahman (2/18) was the other star of the match for the visitors.
Apart from Rahman, Lewis Gregory (2/27) and Taskin Ahmed (2/39) took two wickets each to bowl Sylhet out for 161 in pursuit of the Rangers' score of 199. Sherfane Rutherford (60) tried his best to save the day for Thunder but Watson, who seemed to be having a field day, ran him out in the 17th over of the run chase, lending a terrible blow to the bottom-placed side.
Skipper Andre Fletcher (19), Sohag Gazi (1), and Shafiqullah Shafaq (10) all let the home fans down with their disappointing performances with the bat.
Earlier in the evening, Thunder had won the toss and invited the guests to have a bat first. The decision backfired for the home team as Watson and Mohammad Naim (42) added 77 runs for the first wicket. While Naim departed in the ninth over, the Aussie continued his assault from the other end.
The quartet of Cameron Delport (25), Gregory (15), Mohammad Nabi (23) and Fazle Mahmud (16*) all pitched in with valuable contributions and guided the Rangers to a score of 199/5 in their 20 overs. Ebadat Hossain (2/30) was the best bowler from the home team on a day most of his contemporaries were sent to the cleaners.
With this victory, the Rangpur Rangers have 8 points from their 10 matches and are currently second from the bottom in the league table. On the other hand, Sylhet Thunder continue to hold on to the last position with just one win in their ten matches.