Burners heap more misery on Kings

Barisal Burners heaped more misery on Chittagong Kings when they posted a narrow six-run win over the struggling side in the Bangladesh Premier League in Chittagong on Thursday.
Set a mammoth target after Burners put on 182-5, Kings made a positive start and were in the game until left-arm spinner Elias Sunny derailed their run chase with two wickets in two overs in the middle of their innings.
Skipper Mahmudullah staged a fight-back with his 45 from 24 balls, but his run-out in the fifth ball of the penultimate over ended their all hopes. Sunny finished with 3-24 as Kings ended up with 176-6 to suffer their fourth defeat in five matches, leaving their semi-final hopes in tatters.
Brandon Taylor made highest 51 from 42 balls for Kings before he was caught by Nazmul Islam off Sunny at the mid-wicket boundary. Sunny also took the wicket of Naeem Islam and
Ryan ten Doeschate, who made 24 from 17 balls.
Opting to bat first, Burners gambled with Sabbir Rahman promoting him to one-down position and the decision proved to be a masterstroke as the all-rounder made highest 40 runs facing just 27 balls.
His innings, which included five fours and two sixes, gave Burners a great momentum and the visitors never let it go. Though none of their batsman could play a big innings, almost everyone made some contribution to take them to a total that was always difficult to chase.
Azhar Mahmud chipped in with 35 off 29 balls, though he was benefitted by a dropped-catch off Shaun Tait, who returned to the Kings’ line-up after missing out on the last two matches.
Tait compensated making Mahmud run out with a direct hit, but Alok Kapali chose the game to show he has still some batting left in him with an unbeaten 29 from 20 balls.
Kings skipper Mahmudullah used eight bowlers but none could make any serious impact apart from Caribbean all-rounder Kevon Cooper, who took 2-27.
BRIEF SCORES
Barisal Burners 182-5 in 20 overs (S Rahman 40, A Mahmood 35, A Kapali 29 not out; K Cooper 2-27) v Chittagong Kings 176-6 in 20 overs (B Taylor 51, Mahmudullah 45; E Sunny 3-24, A Mahmood 2-36) Result: Barisal Burners won by 6 runs.
Man of the match: A Mahmood (BB)