Rangers, Kings face off in final

Rajshahi Rangers and Kings of Khulna, the two pre-tournament underdogs, set up a final clash in the National Cricket League Twenty20 by winning their respective semi-finals at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
Rangers defused Dhaka Dynamites, the only unbeaten side in the first phase, with a 12-run victory after Kings of Khulna had overpowered Sultans of Sylhet by six wickets in the low-scoring first semi-final.
Replying to Rangers’ mediocre 142-8, high-flying Dynamites were down and out after losing five wickets for 43 runs and they were finally dismissed for 130 runs in 19.5 overs to bow out of the tournament.
Sri Lankan international Thilina Kandamby with his defiant 33 off 36 balls took the game to the final over, but that was not enough. Mahmudullah Riyad provided some assistance to Kandamby adding 39 runs for the sixth wicket before Muktar Ali ended his resistance removing him for 25.
Shahadat Hossain delivered some lusty blows late on to remain unbeaten on 19 off 11 balls, but the asking run-rate was too high for him. Naeem Islam, Sanjamul Islam and Shafiul Islam grabbed two wickets each for Rangers.
Earlier, Australian opener Aiden Blizzard gave Rangers a rollicking start with 32 from 16 balls hitting six fours and a six but once Mohammad Rafique sent him back with a sharp return catch they lost the momentum.
Junaed Siddique (23) and Hannan Sarkar (17) had also a good start only to throw their wickets away when they needed to accelerate the run rate. However, Naeem Islam made 31 off 21 balls to give the side something to fight with.
Naeem later opened the bowling and unsettled the Dynamites top-order with his four overs in a row, a performance that helped him win the man of the match award.
Kings of Khulna became the first team to qualify for the final with an easy win over Sultans of Sylhet earlier in the first semi-final.
Sultans made a stuttering start scoring only 36 runs for three wickets in the first six overs of batting Powerplay and could never recover from the damage to finish at 131-8 in stipulated 20 overs.
The morale of the side received a body blow when Alok Kapali, their batting cornerstone, was wrongly given stumped out in the first ball he faced by umpire Nadir Shah. The television replay showed his back-foot was well inside the crease when Kings wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun broke the stumps off the bowling of Sakib al Hasan.
Sultans’ innings got some respectability only when all-rounder Farhad Reza mustered 43 off 34 balls at the final stage with three sixes and a four. Apart from Farhad, only Sri Lankan Indika de Saram (22) and Mashrafee bin Murtaza (15) could reach double figures.
Chasing an ordinary target, Kings were never in real danger of losing the game although they had to wait until the final over to complete the victory making 134-4 with just two balls left.
Mohammad Mithun and Mahela Lakmal gave Kings a flying start before skipper Mashrafee struck to dismiss Mithun, who made 21 from 17 balls with three fours and a six.
Mahela Lakmal and Imrul Kayes took the score to 104 runs with a 66-run second-wicket stand making Kings’ victory all but a formality. Man of the match Lakmal was run out for 38 off 36 balls, albeit controversially.
Kayes, who was happy to play the role of an anchor, became the second victim of Mashrafee, also making 38 runs facing 46 balls.
The match took an interesting turn when Kings skipper Sakib was out for six runs continuing his miserable form with the bat in the tournament, but Forhad Hossain (15 not out) and Dollar Mahmud (five) gave Sultans no further chance.
The final of the tournament will be held on Wednesday.

Courtesy of NewAge