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| Nasir Hossain (42 of 38 balls ) |
Chittagong Kings’ home journey ended in a nightmare when they were
folded for tournament’s lowest total of 93 runs to concede a 44-run
defeat to Khulna Royal Bengals in the Bangladesh Premier League on
Monday.
In their pursuit of a small target of 138 runs, the local side made a
mess for the second consecutive match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury
Stadium, which now pushed them to second place in the points table for
the first time in the tournament.
Khulna joined Duronto Rajshahi at the top of the table after the
latter recorded their fifth successive win earlier in the day, this time
with a nine-wicket thrashing of Barisal Burners.
It was Kings’ second defeat in as many matches at their home ground
following their narrow nine-run loss to Rajshahi earlier on February 18
when they failed to chase down 126 runs.
Until Monday, their 117-9 was the tournament’s lowest total, but little did they know the worst was yet to come.
Bowlers did a fair job again to help Chittagong restrict Khulna to
137-6, but their joy was short-lived this time too as the batsmen failed
to respond.
Even the return of icon player Tamim Iqbal could not help the local
side. Tamim could score only five runs after making a dramatic comeback
in the side having earlier been rested for the group phase for a groin
injury.
Dwayne Smith bowled Tamim to begin Khulna’s wicket-fest and he was
soon joined by Sakib al Hasan and Abdur Razzak. Sakib forced in-form
Nasir Jamshed (9) to give a catch to Herschelle Gibbs at point before
Razzak had Jahirul Islam and Dwayne Bravo out for two and one
respectively.
Jason Roy’s attempt to rebuild the innings ended in an unfortunate
run-out on 30 following a mix-up with Mahmudullah, who soon fell to
occasional leg spinner Marshal Ayub.
Ayub, who notoriously conceded six sixes in six balls to Naeem Islam in a Dhaka Premier League match last season, this time
claimed three wickets in the same over to extinguish any hopes Chittagong had in the match before he finished with 4-20.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr took 3-22, including two
wickets in two balls, as Chittagong always kept Khulna in check on a
wicket that offered sharp turn.
Nasir Hossain stood tall against all odds and made an invaluable 42
from 38 balls with four fours and a six to give the Khulna innings some
respectability.
Nasir later held his nerve to take three catches that earned him the man of the match award ahead of other contender Ayub.
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