BPL 2019, Comilla Victorians vs Rangpur Riders: Preview, Team News, and Predicted Playing XI
Comilla Victorians and Rangpur Riders will take on each other in the fifth game of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Tuesday, January 8.
Both teams have played eight against each other in the BPL with the Victorians winning five of those and the Riders winning three. Both teams are coming off a win in their respective fixtures. Now, these teams would like to extend their winning run in their upcoming clash at Dhaka.
Comilla Victorians
Comilla Victorians secured a hard-fought win in the low scoring encounter against the Sylhet Sixers. Despite their win in the opening game, there are a lot of things they need to address before going against Rangpur.
Batting
Tamim Iqbal (35 runs off 34 balls) was the pick of the lot with a steady innings against Sylhet. Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi who eventually scored an unbeaten 39 runs from 25 balls was their next best batsman at number seven. This might be a matter of concern for the Victorians as most of their top and middle order batsmen failed against the Sixers
The team will also bank on the likes of Steve Smith and Shoaib Malik, both who failed to convert their starts in the previous outing, and one may expect them to come out blazing against Rangpur.
Bowling
Mohammad Saifuddin was the pick of the bowlers in the first game with economical figures of 2/13 in three overs. He was well supported by Mohammad Shahidi and Mehidy Hasan who also picked up two wickets each and these three will once again pose a major threat to the Rangpur batsmen.
Expected Playing XI
Tamim Iqbal (C), Evin Lewis, Imrul Kayes, Steve Smith, Shoaib Malik, Amanul Haque, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Shahid, and Abu Hider.
Rangpur Riders
The Riders started off their BPL campaign with a sub-par performance against Chittagong Vikings but came back into fore against Khulna Titans to win by eight runs.
Batting
Ravi Bopara is looking in terrific touch with scores of 44 and 40* in the first two games respectively, and he looks set for another big knock here.
Rilee Rossouw announced his comeback with an entertaining 76 runs from 52 balls in the previous fixture against Khulna Titans. Mehidy Maruf is the only player who has not been able to perform so far and might be making way to accommodate Chris Gayle in case he joins the team before the start of the game.
Bowling
The Riders' main bowler skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has taken the most wickets; three in two matches, and he was the pick of the lot in the opening fixture with figures of 2/24. While Shaiful Islam and Benny Howell have also been impressive with three and two wickets respectively, and the team will need them to pick a few scalps upfront.
Expected Playing XI
Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Rilee Rossouw, Chris Gayle or Mehidy Maruf, Alex Hales, Mohammad Mithun, Ravi Bopara, Nazmul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Farhad Reza, Benny Howell, and Sohag Gazi.
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