Cyclones weaken further

Cclones of Chitta-gong weakened further and signalled to stop before the semi-final stage of the National Cricket League Twenty20 Tournament after conceding their consecutive third defeat on Tuesday.
Kings of Khulna bounced back from their defeat in the first game to hand the Chittagong franchise a massive 78-run mauling while Barisal Blazers recorded a seven-wicket victory to end the unbeaten run of Rajshahi Rangers in the two matches at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Mohammad Rafique bowled Dhaka Dynamites to their second win, this time against Sultans of Sylhet by 41 runs, although the tournament favourites had scored only 133 runs batting first at the BKSP.
The most-talked-about thing was, however, the consecutive failures of high-profile Cyclones of Chittagong, who even did not manage to give Kings of Khulna any competition in the final match of the day.
After restricting Kings to 180-7, the Chittagong franchise ended their stipulated 20 overs on 102-7.
Imrul Kayes led the charge for Khulna making highest 71 off 48 balls. Kayes, who was dropped in the first ball of the innings at gully off Shoaib Akhtar, struck five fours and three sixes.
Speedster Shoaib finally made some contribution to Cyclones taking three catches and dismissing Kings captain Sakib al Hasan, who scored only 16 runs.
Nuwan Joysa, who joined Kings only in the morning, uprooted the middle stump of Tamim Iqbal in the first ball of Cyclone innings and they could not recover from the shock in the remainder of their innings.
Joysa finished with 4-26 as Nasir Hossain made highest 24 not out for Cyclones.
In the first match of the day, Under-19 captain Mahmudual Hasan claimed 3-16 including two wickets in one over as Barisal Blazers dismissed high-flying Rajshahi Rangers for 115 runs in 19.3 overs.
Apart from Australian opener Aiden Blizzard (39 off 26 balls) and Sohrawardi Shuvo (26 off 32), no Rangers batsmen could make any decent score as Blazers bowled and fielded brilliantly.
Blazers captain Shahriar Nafees took two fine catches in the eighth over of the innings, bowled by man-of-the-match Mahmudul, and it turned out to be very crucial in the context of the game.
Roqibul Hassan (36), Nazimuddin (33) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (30 not out) as Blazers raced to 118 with almost four overs to spare. Naeem Islam took two wickets for Rangers.
At the BKSP, Mehrab Hossain Jr scored an unbeaten 58 off 44 balls and shared an 86-run partnership with Sri Lankan Jeevan Mendis to help Dhaka Dynamites reach 133 after they had lost three wickets in three balls to reel at 21-4 at one stage.
Mashrafee bin Murtaza was again the pick of the Sylhet bowlers grabbing 3-24, but he was later overshadowed by Mohammad Rafique and Mohammad Ashraful.
Rafique took the new ball and struck with his second delivery to show Dhaka Dynamites the way. He bowled four overs in four different spells to take four wickets for seven runs as Sultans were all out for 93 runs in 17.3 overs.
Ashraful and Shahadat Hossain also shared five wickets between them to help Dhaka defend their meagre total. Ashraful claimed 3-13 while Shahadat returned with 2-10 runs.
  
Brief Scores
Rajshahi Rangers: 115 all out in 19.1 overs (Aiden Blizzard 39, Sohrawardi Shuvo 26; Mahmudul Hasan 3-16, Syed Rasel 2-24)
Barisal Blazers: 118-3 in 16.1 overs (Roqibul Hassan 36, Nazimuddin 33, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 30*; Naeem Islam 2-20)
Result: Barisal Blazers won by seven wickets
Man of the match: Mahmudul Hasan
  
Dhaka Dynamites: 133-6 in 20 overs (Mehrab Hossain 58*, Jeevan Mendis 40; Mashrafee bin Murtaza 3-24, Nazmul Hossain 1-19)
Sultans of Sylhet: 93 all out in 17.3 overs (Alok Kapali 33, Nazmul Hossain 21; Mohammad Rafique 4-7, Mohammad Ashraful 3-13, Shahadat Hossain 2-10)
Result: Dhaka Dynamites won by 41 runs
Man of the match: Mohammad Rafique
  
Kings of Khulna: 180-7 in 20 overs (Imrul Kayes 71, Mahela Udawatta 27; Foysal Hossain 3-17, Enamul Haque Jr 2-27)
Cyclones of Chittagong: 102-7 in 20 overs (Nasir Hossain 24*; Nawan Joysa 4-26)
Result: Kings of Khulna won by 78 runs
Man of the match: Imrul Kayes

Courtesy of NewAge