Pitch in focus as Vikings, Dynamites kickoff BPL with wins

@B0$

In a sluggish start to the new Bangladesh Premier League season, Chittagong Vikings edged past Rangpur Riders by three wickets in a low-scoring encounter. Opting to bowl first, Vikings had Riders running for cover right from the outset. The top three combined contributed just one run with Robbie Frylinck doing the damage. Wickets continued to tumble as seven of the top eight got dismissed for single-digit scores.

Riders staged a slight recovery from 35/7 to get all out for 98 after Ravi Bopara added 49 runs for the eighth wicket with Sohag Gazi. In reply, Cameron Delport and Mohammad Ashraful fell cheaply but a cautious Mushfiqur Rahim and a free-flowing Mohammad Shahzad ensured that the team steadily progressed towards the target.

While there was a late collapse with Vikings losing five wickets for the addition of 34 runs, Frylinck, who starred with a four-wicket haul, contributed 12 vital runs to help his team go past the finish line. ''I don't think it was a 99 wicket, neither was it a 140 wicket. I think 120-125 would have been a good score," Man of the Match Frylinck said after the game.

@B1$ 98 in 20 overs (Ravi Bopara 44; Robbie Frylinck 4-14, Nayeem Hasan 2-10) @B2$ 101/7 in 19.1 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 27, Mushfiqur Rahim 25; Mashrafe Mortaza 2-24) by three wickets

@B3$

A stunning assault from Hazratullah Zazai provided some much-needed entertainment on what was otherwise a dull day. With the pitch hogging all the attention, Zazai came out all guns firing to strike sixes at will with Sunil Narine taking a backseat initially. With Narine also getting into the act at one point, the openers put on 116 for the opening wicket, post which Rajshahi Kings made a comeback dismissing the openers.

Once Zazai departed for a 41-ball 78, Kings were hopeful of restricting Dynamites to a par score with five wickets falling for the addition of just 20 runs at one stage. But Shuvagata Hom chipped in with a vital cameo right at the death, scoring 38 off just 14 balls to guide Dynamites to a commanding total of 189. Scoring once again became tough in the second half of the game with only the experienced Mohammad Hafeez showing some resistance at the top.

Bangladesh seamer Rubel Hossain struck thrice whereas the big name allrounders Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Shakib Al Hasan picked up a wicket each. With only four batsmen touching double digits, Kings were bowled out for a paltry 106 with ten balls still left in the innings.

@B4$ 189/5 in 20 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 78, Shuvagata Hom 38*; Arafat Sunny 2-23) @B5$ 106 in 18.2 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 29; Rubel Hossain 3-7, Mohor Sheikh 2-24) @B6$