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So that'll be all for our coverage of this contest but there's plenty more cricketing action coming your way from around the globe. You can switch tabs and follow our coverage of the SA20 here with the Paarl Royals struggling against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. If you're keen on following what's up with the ILT20, you can hop over here to see if Joe Root can steer the Dubai Capitals to a win over the Gulf Giants in a dicey run chase. Until next time though, this is Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. See you around soon - good night!
A happy captain, Shakib Al Hasan, and why wouldn't he be when his side is on an absolute roll. Fortune Barishal are going to be very difficult to stop at this rate and this win is bound to boost their confidence further. As for the Rangpur Riders, they have a lot of work to do and they must quickly put this behind them and put their campaign back on track, lest it become too late to garner a head of steam.
Shakib Al Hasan (Fortune Barishal Captain): Me and Iftikhar came together when we were in a spot of bother. Losing four wickets in six overs wasn't ideal. Credit should go to the way Iftikhar batted - he took the early chances and it paid off. Full credit goes to him. (On the cut shot off Haris Rauf) I was expecting the short ball so I gave myself a lot of room to play the cut shot. Luckily it paid off. We've got a very good fast-bowling attack, especially the local bowlers. We've got plenty of options and the others are chipping in.
Iftikhar Ahmed is unsurprisingly the Player of the Match for his blistering century. Here's what he has to say: I was working very hard and it was my dream to score a hundred. I didn't have a hundred in T20s and the situation was ideal today. (On taking on his countryman Haris Rauf). I've played a lot with him. The ball came onto the bat pretty well.
Shoaib Malik (Rangpur Riders captain): It's always good to remember these kind of games, where we went wrong. One thing which we can't forget is that catch (laughs). Not taking away how well Iftikhar and Shakib played. On a good pitch you can expect them to come hard. When two batters are in good form and come after you, you come under pressure. The execution wasn't there and this happens when the batters back themselves. I hope we don't see these kind of things happening against us anymore. The major area (to address) is fielding. When you play on a good strip, fielding is something with which you can restrict the opposition by 15-20 runs. In the first few overs we could have shown more intent. Shamim looked good and that's what we expect from him. Even though he didn't have enough balls to play he played well.
Match summary: Fortune Barishal beat Rangpur Riders by 67 runs.
Iftikhar Ahmed 100* (45) | Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3/26 (4) Shamim Hossain 44* (24) | Hasan Mahmud 2/31 (4)
They seemed in real trouble at the end of the powerplay but Fortune Barishal rode on a belligerent unbeaten 192-run stand between Shakib Al Hasan and Iftikhar Ahmed to pulverize the Rangpur Riders attack and rack up a mammoth total of 238.
Shakib then took over with the ball with Mehidy Hasan Miraz for company. A string of tidy overs escalated the already massive required rate to near-insurmountable proportions. The pressure told on the batters and even as they looked to try and break free, Rony Talukdar's run out was then followed by a double-whammy in the final over of the powerplay that left the Riders reeling.
A few starts came by thereafter but Barishal just couldn't do much wrong. Barring the very rare mishap on the field, they were spot on throughout their defense and landed the ball in the right areas. The spinners set it up before Mohammad Wasim and Kamrul Islam took over to deliver regular wickets and keep things largely tight relative to the asking rate. Mohammad Naim looked positive and launched a counter-attack, but he took perished without converting his start.
A good partnership then came by between Mohammad Nawaz and Shamim Hossain. Both left-handers swung hard with nothing to lose and the latter nearly got to a half-century as well. He tore into Ebadot Hossain in the penultimate over and this little knock is bound to do his confidence a world of good. But as far as the end result was concerned, it was always headed only one way. Rangpur avoided getting bundled out and 171 is by no means a shabby score in this format. Yet, the fact that they lost by 67 runs just tells you how everything went awry for them today. Stay tuned as we hear from the captains shortly...
As dominant a performance as they come and indeed, it is four out of four for Fortune Barishal. Quite clearly the team to beat in the tournament apart from the Sylhet Strikers alright!
20
overs
171/9score
0
0
0
1wd
0
0
0
runs
Shamim Patwari*
44(24)
Hasan Mahmud
0(1)
Kamrul Islam
2/25
19.6 Kamrul Islam to Shamim Hossain, excellent yorker wide of off stump. Shamim sits low and reaches for it with all might but cannot connect. He gives the bowler a high-five - good spirits there but the result was always a foregone conclusion. Fortune Barishal make it four in a row with a 67-run victory!
Final delivery of the contest. Can Shamim get to a half-century?