It was a close match for the Rangpur Riders on Saturday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. With a total of 131/6, the Riders won against the Khulna Tigers by 4 wickets with 3 balls remaining.
The Riders are now third in the 2023 BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) standings with two wins, one loss, and four points. They are above the Chattogram Challengers due to a net run rate of +0.501. While the Chattogram Challengers also have four points with two wins and two losses, they have a net run rate of -0.831.
The Khulna Tigers, on the other hand, are sixth in the standings with 3 losses and a net run rate of -0.345.
The Riders’ victory is largely thanks to their bowlers. Out of all the bowlers in the match, Robiul Haque dismissed four batsmen while the rest only managed a maximum of 2 wickets. Because of this, Haque was named Player of the Match.
When interviewed about the match, the bowler said, “Our bowling department did well. We tried to put our batters into a comfortable zone. Our practice sessions have been good. The groundsmen have allowed us to practice at a good ground. We try to do our best.”
At the start of the match, Rangpur Riders won the toss and elected to field. While the Tigers had strong bowlers with Azam Khan(34) and Yasir Ali(25) boosting the team’s score with a combined run score of 59 runs, they ended with a total of 130/10.
The Riders, on the other hand, managed to get a 44-run hit thanks to Shoaib Malik. Other than Malik’s hit, the highest that the Riders’ batters managed to hit was 21 runs by Mohammad Naim.
Between the two, the Khulna Tigers had several batters that only managed to get single-digit run scores.
After this match, the two teams will face each other again for the 15th match of the 2023 BPL on January 17. With three straight losses, the Tigers will need a win or draw if they want better chances at progressing in the tournament.
Before this, the Rangpur Riders went against the Khulna Tigers, they went against the Fortune Barishel and lost by 6 wickets with 4 balls left. The Khulna Tigers also lost in the previous match against the Chattogram Challengers, and it was by 9 wickets with 4 balls left.
In the previous BPL, the Rangpur Riders were not listed. No reason was reported other than the confirmation that Rajshahi and Rangpur, the northern regions of Bangladesh, would be missing the upcoming edition. The last time the Rangpur Riders participated in the BPL was in the seventh season of 2019-2020. Unfortunately, they did not make it past the League Stage.
Meanwhile, the Khulna Tigers ended in 6th in the 2021-22 BPL standings with three wins and ten points.
The ninth season of the BPL started on January 6. The league stages will be going on until February 10 then the quarter-finals will start on February 12.