Mahmudullah leads from the front to give Khulna five-wicket win over Rajshahi

Gemcon Khulna beat Minister Group Rajshahi by five wickets in the 14th match of the ongoing Bangabandhu T20 Cup and moved to the second in the points table.

The start was excellent for Gemcon Khulna with the bat while chasing 146. Zakir Hasan and Jahurul Islam put on 56 for the first wicket before the former got out. Jahurul top-scored with 43 off 40 balls before getting dismissed in the 12th over. There was a hiccup in the middle as they were restricted, all on a sudden, from 76 for two to 109 for five.

But the skipper Mahmudullah was there to see the chase off. He finished the game with an excellent 31 not out off 19 balls and they went past Rajshahi's total with four deliveries to spare.

Put in to bat, Minister Group Rajshahi lost the wicket of Anisul Islam Emon in the second over. But skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto carried his form from the previous matches. The southpaw played some delightful shots and put on handy partnerships with the batsmen followed before perishing in the 13th over. He scored 55 off 38 deliveries with the help of six fours and two sixes. The tempo was a bit up and down in the innings. They couldn't score freely in the middle overs. Rajshahi could manage only 50 runs from overs 7-15. 

But Nurul Hasan Sohan put the foot down and hit some lusty blows in the penultimate over to power them to 145 for five after 20 overs. The wicketkeeper batsman scored an unbeaten 37 off 21. His innings was studded with three fours and two sixes. 

Shuvagata Hom picked up couple of wickets while Al-Amin Hossain, Shahidul Islam and Mahmudullah chipped in with one each.

For his great all-round display, Mahmudullah was named man of the match.

Brief Scores:

Minister Group Rajshahi 145/5 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 55, Nurul Hasan 37*, Jaker Ali 15*, Shuvagata Hom 2/25, Mahmudullah 1/4, Al-Amin Hossain 1/35)
Gemcon Khulna 146/5 (Jahurul Islam 43, Mahmudullah 31*, Imrul Kayes 27, Mukidul Islam 2/31, Arafat Sunny 1/23, Farhad Reza 1/27)