BPL T20 Shakib at the death

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 finally attracted the much desired near-capacity crowd yesterday as the tournament touched down in the port city, but there was no change in Sylhet Royals' fortunes as they suffered a two-run defeat to Khulna Royal Bengals.

The big crowd at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium could not have asked for a better start to the Chittagong leg of the tournament as there was no shortage of excitement in the first match which Khulna won courtesy of some intelligent bowling from their inspirational skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who bowled the last over.

Despite Pakistani Kamran Akmal and former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris's heroics, Sylhet finished their first-leg campaign empty-handed while it was Khulna's third win, which put them level with Dhaka Gladiators and Duronto Rajshahi.

Chasing a 172-run winning target, Sylhet lost wickets at regular intervals but Styris kept their hopes alive till the end when they needed 28 runs from the last two overs. Sylhet had almost turned the tables when Naeem Islam Islam and Styris whacked two big sixes to in the 17-run penultimate over.

Then a confident Shakib bowled brilliantly, dismissing Naeem and Brad Hogg off the first two deliveries to ignite the crowd but veteran Styris seized back the initiative by smashing a six over long-on, bringing the equation down to four runs from the last ball; the right-hander though could manage only one run as Sylhet ended on 169-8.

“Confidence was the key behind this success. I took the challenge because I'm the captain and I never faced such a challenge as a bowler at the international level. But I was confident that I could manage it if I bowl in the right spot," said Shakib. "After the six, I was a little nervous because eleven runs was not a big target in the last over but once again the confidence came through.”

Shakib though wasn't too pleased with his team's batting at the top of the order.

Akmal, meanwhile, praised the No 1 all-rounder in the world for his brilliant last over which saw his 41-ball 82 go in vain. “We were very close to winning the match but Shakib bowled brilliantly. He has a lot of experience and applied it there,” said the Pakistani wicketkeeper-batsman.

The man-of-the match award however went to West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, who followed his compatriot Dwayne Smith's 31-ball 55 that saw four sixes and three fours by smashing three fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 14-ball 35 and later picked up two wickets. It was his second such award.

“He (Russell) has been proving why he was a hot-cake in the auction. But I also thank Smith who has so far contributed brilliantly with his bat and sometimes with his bowling,” said Shakib.

Khulna must also thank Sylhet skipper Peter Trego for allowing them to put up a challenging total on the board as the military-medium bowler conceded 50 runs in his four overs. Russell and Nazmul Hossain punished him most, each smashing two sixes in two of his overs.

SCORES IN BRIEF
KHULNA: 171-6 in 20 overs (Smith 55, Shakib 14, Nasir 23, Nazmul 22 not out, Russell 35 not out; Tanvir 2-25, Nabil 2-32, Trego 2-50)

SYLHET: 169-8 in 20 overs (Akmal 82, Styris 48 not out; Russell 2-36, Shakib 2-30, Razzak 2-24)

Result: Khulna Royal Bengals won by two runs.