Jahirul propels Duronto

Jahirul Islam extended his purple patch as Duronto Rajshahi registered their third consecutive win, this time over league leaders Sylhet Royals courtesy of their five-wicket win at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday. Jahirul gave up his captaincy three matches ago to facilitate his batting and the decision earned him rich dividends coming into this game against Royals with knocks of 57 and 38.
And the lad from Rajshahi asserted his dominance once again to remain unbeaten on 49 runs from 37 balls to enable his team overhaul Royals’ modest 147-8.
Together with Mukhtar Ali, the pair curved out a partnership of 46 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand as Duronto, who missed the batting of their star opener Tamim Iqbal to injury, sealed their fifth win overall to move joint-second in the standings with 10 points.
Royals continued to stay on top with 12 points despite their second defeat of the campaign.
Their fate was sealed with two deliveries to spare as Mukhtar bludgeoned his second six over the cover region off the fourth ball of the final over bowled by Dwayne Smith to spark wild celebrations.
The match was evenly poised with three overs remaining as Duronto still required 24 runs.
However, Duronto stole a march over their opponents as Mukhtar blasted his first six off the fourth ball of the 18th over bowled by Mohammad Nabi, a giant effort over midwicket stretching 89 metres.
From there on in, all Duronto needed was a-run a-ball and Jahirul and Mukhtar duly obliged by milking one single after the other to see the chase through.
Smith was the only bowler of note for Royals scalping two wickets as none of the other bowlers were able to take wickets at regular intervals or stem the flow of runs.
Batting first after losing the toss, the Royals ended their innings on 147-8 but the innings never really took off as the Royals lost one batsman after another to insufficient starts. Most of the batsmen started well but were unable to convert them to big scores. Mushfiqur Rahim provided the highest score with 34 off 23 balls.
BRIEF SCORES
Sylhet Royals 147-8 in 20 overs (M Rahim 34, D Smith 24, M Nabi 17; E Munaweera 2-19, M Hossain 2-35) v Duronto Rajshahi 152-5 in 19.4 overs (J Islam 49 not out, M Ali 26 not out, E Munaweera 21; D Smith 2-25).
Result: Duronto Rajshahi won by 5 wickets.
Man of the match: Jahirul Islam (DR)