Duronto ease into win

Tamim Iqbal and Charles Coventry shared 95 runs for the opening-wicket stand as Duronto Rajshahi cantered to a seven-wicket win over Rangpur Riders in Dhaka on Monday.
Tamim entertained the handful crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium with his third BPL half-century and he was joined by Coventry in almost equal measure, making it a second win in a row for Duronto.
The Rajshahi outfit, who have now four wins from eight matches, eased into 168-3 thanks to the exploits of their openers after Riders had ended their positive start to finish at 162-3.
Jahirul Islam, unbeaten on 38 from 18 balls, finished off the game with a six off Nasir Hossain in the last ball of the penultimate over to cap a perfect batting showing that saw some fine performances from both sides.
There was no hurry for Tamim and Coventry despite a relatively big target as they took just one run in the first over and added five in the next. But once Tamim struck Fidel Edwards for a six in the third over, Duronto began to take control from which they did not let up.
Tamim was out for 50 in the next ball after he reached the milestone with a four over the third man region. Nasir Hossain took the catch at long-off off Tapash Ghosh to end the 36-ball innings of Tamim, who clubbed two sixes and four fours.
Nasir ran out Coventry for 47 (from 35 balls) in the next over bowled by himself to raise some hopes for a fightback, which, however, quickly evaporated with Jahirul hitting two sixes in a single over.
It could not be imagined that this match would be a lopsided affair after Riders won the toss and elected to bat first.
Junaed Siddique, playing his first match after recovering from a back injury, made a quickfire 31 from 16 balls to give them a good start, though the other batsmen were unable to keep up the momentum.
Shamsur Rahman made his fourth fifty in the league, the highest by any batsman, but consumed 57 balls for his 68, which had a clear impact on the Riders’ run rate. Nasir Hossain was also unusually sedate in his 29-ball 30, which, however, helped him regain his place as the tournament’s leading scorer.
Despite the easy going, it would not have been possible for Riders to post this total if Australian Cameron Borgas had not provided some late blows to stay unbeaten on 22 from 12 balls. Unfortunately for Riders, it was not enough.
BRIEF SCORES
Rangpur Riders 163-3 in 20 overs (S Rahman 68,
J Siddique 31, N Hossain 30; CJ Borgas 22 not out) v Duronto Rajshahi 168-3 in 19 overs (T Iqbal 50, C Coventry 47, J Islam 38 not out).
Result: Duronto Rajshahi won by 7 wickets.
Man of the match: T Iqbal (DR).