Rangpur Riders failed to ignite their innings, perhaps lacking that spark of inspiration from skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who chose to sit out the final group match against Dhaka Dynamites. Dynamites managed to restrict the Riders, who were also missing dashing opener Chris Gayle to just 94 runs and ensure a 43-run victory.
Rangpur kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the Dhaka bowlers reigned supreme. Riders slumped to 39 for five inside 10 overs as Abu Hider, Shakib, Mossaddek Hossain and Mohammed Amir dictated terms with tight bowling.
Shakib removed Brendon McCullum in the fourth over, out bowled after the batsman tried to cut away a delivery without any room to work with. Abu Hider had a good outing as he grabbed two wickets, removing Shahriar Nafees, out caught behind and Johnson Charles out bowled in the seventh and eighth over respectively.
Ravi Bopara managed to provide some resistance with a 30-ball 28 as Riders managed to play out the 20 overs and reach 94 for the loss of seven wicket. The victory allowed Dhaka Dynamites to go second in the BPL points table courtesy of a better run-rate than Khulna Titans.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan proved to be the difference as his knock with the bat helped the Dynamites to a considerable total before he picked up two wickets for 13 runs in his four overs.
After a stuttering start, defending Champions Dhaka Dynamites rode on a late Shakib Al Hasan surge to reach a middling 137 for seven after choosing to bat first against Rangpur Riders in the sides last group match of the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.
Although both sides have qualified to the playoffs stage, Dhaka had the chance to seal second position in the seven-team table and give themselves two shots at getting to the December 12 final by playing the qualifier against Comilla Victorians instead of an eliminator.
Shakib was not out on 47 off 33 balls, and 22 off those runs came off eight balls in the last two overs after an indifferent batting display from the rest of his teammates, with the exception of Mehedi Maruf, who hit a 23-ball 33 and stitched together a crucial 53-run sixth-wicket stand with Shakib after the Dynamites were reduced to 48 for five in the 10th over.
Opener Evin Lewis, uncharacteristically sedate in an 18-ball 14, was the next highest score and Mosaddek Hossain with 10 was the only other batsman to reach double digits.
Pacers Rubel Hossain and Ebadat Hossain, playing his first BPL match, took two wickets each but came under fire from Shakib at the end. Spinners Samuel Badree and Nahidul Islam were instrumental in getting Dhaka to the doldrums as they each took a wicket and gave away just 18 and 12 runs respectively from their quotas.
