Twitter Reactions: Masterful Mashrafe bowls Rangpur Riders to back-to-back wins
The Jessore-born speedster was the Player of the Match for his stupendous spell of bowling.
After their defeat against Chittagong Vikings, Rangpur Riders made a comeback with a victory against Khulna Titans in this edition’s Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Now Mashrafe Mortaza’s men beat Comilla Victorians by nine wickets at the iconic Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium. The Victorians, led by Steve Smith, failed to replicate their performance against Sylhet Sixers at the same ground.
Mortaza comes to the party
The Riders won the toss and opted to field first and the decision paid dividends as they bowled the Victorians out for 63 in 16.2 overs. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza stepped up and picked up the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Evin Lewis and Imrul Kayes inside the first five overs. After Shafiul Islam trapped Shoaib Malik plumb in front, Mortaza picked up his fourth in the form of Australian stalwart Steve Smith.
Most importantly, half the Victorians team was back to the hut in the seventh over with 18 runs on the board. Shahid Afridi tried to play a lone hand and churned out 25 runs off 18 balls with three fours and a six. Apart from him, no other Comilla batsman could go into double figures. Left-arm spinner Nazmul Apul got three wickets while Shafiul and Farhad Reza picking up two and one wickets respectively.
Rangpur Riders win with eight overs to spare
The target wasn’t expected to pose any sort of threat to the Riders. The hulk-like Chris Gayle, who replaced Alex Hales in the team, tried to play the waiting game, but couldn’t succeed by any means. The Jamaican could only score one off five balls after which left-arm speedster Abu Hider Rony accounted for his wicket in the third over. Left-handed Rilee Rossouw joined Mehedi Maruf in the middle.
The duo didn’t find it difficult to score the rest of the runs and accomplished them with eight overs to spare. Mehedi Maruf, after failing in the last two matches, played a patient knock of 36 runs from 39 balls with six boundaries. At the other end, Rossouw didn’t throw his wicket away and remained not out on 20 from 28 balls. The Victorians used as many as six bowlers, but their efforts went in vain.
Here is how Twitter praised the Dynamites
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