Rangpur ride on Shoaib,Omarzai to defy Chattogram's challenge

Shoaib Malik's unbeaten 75 helped Rangpur Riders seal their third win in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Monday. They rode on Shoaib's half-century and useful 30+ knocks by Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Naim beat Chattogram Challengers by 55 runs. 

Batting first, Rangpur posted a formidable 179/6 on the board. They actually had a poor start after losing two early wickets within the first five overs. 

Mahedi Hasan was the first to go and Parvez Hossain Emon soon followed him playing a 6-run innings from 10 balls. Rangpur were reduced to 47 for three as they lost Mohammad Naim in the ninth over who played a decent innings of 34 runs from 29 balls. He hit five boundaries and one maximum in his innings.

After that, it was all Shoaib and Omarzai for the Riders. The duo built a 105-run partnership from just 53 balls. Both of them played their part in the partnership scoring 59 and 42 runs respectively. 

Omarzai bagged 42 runs from 24 balls hitting one boundary and four maximums. 

Shoaib carried on till the end and remained unbeaten scoring 75 off 46 balls at a strike rate of 166. The Pakistani all-rounder hit five fours and five maximums.

Interestingly, only three batters got to the double-digit runs for the Riders and all of them made their innings count.

For Chattogram, Mehedi Hasan Rana picked up three wickets but he was a tad expensive giving away nearly 10 runs per over. Skipper Shuvagata Hom picked up a brace for just 13 runs from his three overs. 

Chasing 180 runs was always going to be tough but Chattogram batters made it even tougher losing three early wickets inside the first three overs and they were reduced to 11/3. 

Skipper Shuvagata's 52 was never going to be enough despite Darwish Rasooli and Ziaur Rahman's somewhat useful contributions. And just like Rangpur, only three Chattogram batter reached the double-digit runs and they were always going to fall short. 

Haris Rauf was the most successful bowler for Rangpur picking up three wickets for 17 runs while Rakibul Hasan bagged a brace. 

Chattogram eventually fall 55 runs short. 

Shoaib Malik was adjudged the player of the match for his brilliant innings and guiding his team home. He said he felt comfortable against Taijul and decided to take him on, and it paid off for him.

"I was in two minds - should I take bowlers on or take it deep. Then I decided that if I feel comfortable against a particular bowler, I'll take him on. I felt comfortable against Taijul. He's a brilliant bowler. But today particularly I felt comfortable against him. Credit to my partner as well (Azmatullah). He hit some boundaries when required. We had a 100-run partnership," he said at the post-match presentation.