Khulna beat Chittagong by 18 runs

Khulna Titans registered their second victory in the 5th Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Chittagong Vikings by 18 runs in both sides' 3rd encounter of the seven-team meet at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Khulna restricted Chittagong to 152 for 7 in 20 overs with Abu Jayed's four scalps for 35 runs after setting a target of 171, reports UNB.

Man of the match Abu Jayed ran through the Chittagong batting order grabbing New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi, Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar and Sri Lankan Dilshan Munaweera when Chittagong collected 21 runs in 2.5 overs, and then found his 4th wicket of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq who was caught by Nazmul Hossain Shanto on 107/6 in 15.5 overs.

Chittagong lost their four top-order batsmen -- Ronchi, Soumya, Munaweera and Anamul Haque -- for 38 runs in 4.4 overs before Misbah-ul-Haq and Sikandar Raza stayed in the 5th wicket stand for 59 off 9.3 overs which carried the team total to 97/5 in 13.1 overs.

Sikandar Raza was bowled out by pacer Shafiul Islam after scoring 37 off 27 balls, including three boundaries and two sixes.

Misbah-ul-Haq scored 30 off 37 balls with two fours while Luis Reece (22 off 17b; 1x4; 1x6) Anamul Haque (18 off 14b; 2x4; 1x6), Tanbir Hayder (14* off 10b; 1x4) and Munaweera (10 off 5b; 1x4; 1x5) were the other double digit scorers for the losers.

Shafiul Islam, Carlos Brathwaite and Jofra Archer took one wicket each for 24, 29 and 390 runs respectively. All successful bowlers of Khulna delivered four overs each.

Earlier, sent in to bat first, Khulna scored 170 for 7 in 20 overs, bouncing back from a quick top-order failure of 29/3 in 4.3 overs.

Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad held his nerves in the 4th and 5th wicket stands with Rilee Rossouw and Ariful Haque sharing 39 off 5.2 overs and 35 off 6.2 overs respectively to carry the team collection to 103/5 in 15.3 overs before he was caught by Anamul Haque off Taskin Ahmed.

Rilee Rossouw departed from 4th stand as he was caught by Soumya Sarkar off Taskin on their collection of 68/4 in 9.5 overs.

Taskin got his 3rd wicket in the innings last ball as Ariful Haque was caught by Soumya after scoring 40 off 25 balls, including one four and four sixes.

Khulna managed 68 runs in the last five overs of the innings losing three wickets -- Mahmudullah, Carlos Brathwaite and Ariful.

Mahmudullah stayed for 40 off 33 balls, including two fours and two sixes, while Carlos Brathwaite played quick 30 off 14 balls, including two fours and three sixes.

Rilee Rossouw was out for 25 off 26 balls with two sixes while Jofra Archer added unbeaten 11 off 4 balls, including one four.

Taskin got three wickets for 43 runs while Sunzamul Islam bagged two for 20 runs. Dilshan Munaweera and Subashis Roy took one wicket each for 16 and 21 runs respectively.

With the day's results, Khulna moved up to the 3rd place from bottom-7 to follow Dhaka Dynamites, collecting four points from three outings with two wins and one loss, while Chittagong remained at their previous 4th position in the table securing two points also from three matches, including one win and two losses.

Khulna started their campaign in the franchised tournament conceding 65 runs defeat against defending champions Dhaka Dynamites before upsetting table topper Sylhet Sixers by six wickets for their maiden victory.

Chittagong started with a humiliating eight wickets defeat against Comilla Victorians and then secured an 11-run victory against strong side Rangpur Riders.