Riders down Kings in nail-biting finish

Rangpur Riders brought high-flying Chittagong Kings down to earth with a thrilling five-wicket win in the last over of their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at Mirpur on Saturday.
Set a target of 161 runs, Riders needed 16 runs in the final over and they got exactly that to record their first win in five matches, which also revived their semi-final hopes.
A misfielding from Naeem Islam at long off saw Rubel Hossain conceding a boundary in the first ball of the final over to Kevin O’Brien, who also sent the next ball for four to bring the equation down to eight runs from four balls.
But the next two balls fetched just one run which meant Riders had to score seven runs in two balls which they acquired thanks to West Indies cricketer Danza Hyatt. He sent the fifth delivery over long off for a six and scrambled for a leg-bye in the last ball to avoid the tie and subsequently, the tournament’s first ever super over.
Imrul Kayes and Cameron Borgas set up the win with a 96-run third-wicket stand after Riders lost their in-form batsman Shamsur Rahman (17) and Junaed Siddique (nine) with 27 runs on the board.
West Indies all-rounder Kevon Cooper brought Kings back in the contest when he had dismissed both Kayes and Borgas for identical 48 in one over. Kings suddenly looked favourites after Shaun Tait had Nasir Hossain out for four in the next over.
But everything changed in the final over, which ended a purple patch for the Kings, who had won their last four matches on the trot, all in convincing manner. A similar win would have made their semi-final qualification all but confirmed.
They had reasons to feel comfortable after reaching 160-6 despite their middle-order struggling for runs amid regular breakthroughs by the Riders.
Ryan ten Doeschate made 50 off 31 balls, his second fifty in the tournament and he, together with unheralded all-rounder Ariful Haque (33 not out), took them to a respectable total.
Kings captain Brendan Taylor, who tasted his first defeat since replacing Mahmudullah Riyad, ruled out that a sense of complacency has cost them the game.
‘I wouldn’t say complacency, because we bowled and batted really well but (we) just panicked in the field a little bit,’ Taylor said after the match. ‘If we hadn’t done that, we would have backed ourselves to win this game.’
BRIEF SCORES
Chittagong Kings 160-6 in 20 overs (RN ten Doeschate 50, A Haque 33 not out, N Islam 29; N Hossain 2-25, A Razzak 2-35) v Rangpur Riders 161-5 in 20 overs (I Kayes 48, C Borgas 48, D Hyatt 20 not out; S Tait 2-25, K Cooper 2-27).
Result: Rangpur Riders won by 5 wickets.
Man of the match: D Hyatt (RR)