Rajshahi end on 190-4

Commendable batting performances from the Rajshahi Royals batsmen have taken the side to 190-4 in their match against Cumilla Warriors in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 219. 

Winning the toss, Cumilla's newly appointed skipper Dawid Malan decided to bowl first and put Rajshahi into bat. Dawid Malan has been given the role of captaincy after Dasun Shanaka had to leave the BPL to attend national duties for Sri Lanka.

Rajshahi were off to a flying start as Liton Das and Afif Hossain accumulated 56 in the powerplay with a presentation of exquisite shots. But their partnership broke right after the powerplay as Liton attempted a slog-sweep off Sunzamul Islam, only to find the fielder at mid-wicket and return for 24. 

Afif Hossain though continued on his merry way and kept on playing his shots. But it proved to be one shot too many as he managed to drag a Soumya Sarkar delivery on to his stumps to return for 43 off 30 deliveries. 

Ravi Bopara was the next to go in the 13th over as he dragged a wide Mujeeb-ur-Rahman delivery on to his stumps, reducing Rajshahi to 106-3. 

But what started next was nothing less of havoc as Shoaib Malik and Andre Russell displayed their calibre once again. At one end, it was Malik's prowess and on the other, it was the power from Russell. Malik picked up his fifty off 35 deliveries, whereas Russell was unbeaten on 37. Malik was run out in the last ball of the innings after he had scored a scintillating 61. 

These two put up an incredible 84-run stand off just 42 deliveries to take Rajshahi to 190-4, a commendable score on a Mirpur track. 

Sunzamul, Mujeeb and Soumya picked up one wicket each for Cumilla whereas Al-Amin Hossain remained wicketless with giving away 49 runs.