Chattogram Royals became the first team to reach the final after defeating Rajshahi Warriors in the first qualifier match of the BPL. In response to 133 runs, Chattogram secured victory with 3 balls and 6 wickets in hand.
Rajshahi lost the toss and elected to bat at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday and scored 133 runs in the stipulated 20 overs after losing all the wickets. Opener Tanzid Tamim scored 41 runs off 37 balls for the team. Shahibzada Farhan played an innings of 21 runs off 19 balls.
Despite a good start, Rajshahi later suffered a batting disaster. They lost 6 wickets for 86 runs. In the end, Rajshahi got the score to fight back with a stormy batting of 32 runs off 15 balls by pacer Abdul Ghaffar Saqlain.
In the chase, Chattogram's two openers made a big partnership. The opening partnership came to 64 runs. Naim Sheikh was out for 30 runs off 38 balls, and Hasan Newaz played an important innings of 20 runs off 14 balls for the next wicket. And 11 runs came off 8 balls from Asif Ali's bat.
Meanwhile, opener Mirza Baig played until the 19th over. He scored 45 runs off 47 balls. Then Mahedi Hasan, along with Amir Jamal, ensured the victory. He remained unbeaten on 19 runs off just 9 balls.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
