Sylhet Royals, the whipping boys in the first edition, put their woes behind and made a winning start in the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League when they beat Barisal Burners by 33 runs on Friday.
Royals had lost to the same Burners in their opening match of the first season after Chris Gayle hit a brutal century which was also the beginning of an unexpected seven successive defeats for them in the competition.
But there was no Gayle for Burners this time and Royals were also not the same disorganised side as a mixed group of Ireland, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Bangladeshi cricketers gave them some kind of balance they badly missed last year.
Young Irish cricketer Paul Stirling scored 50 from 29 balls and baby-faced Bangladeshi Mominul Haque added 45 off 38 balls as they mustered 175-7 in 20 overs after Burners had put them in.
They accumulated 101 runs in the first 10 overs but regular strikes by English cricketer Kabir Ali, Alok Kapali and Azhar Mahmood slowed their progress in the second half of their innings.
Burners stuttered at the start when Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi bowled Alok Kapali for six and made Shuvagata Hom a catch of Sohag Gazi for 13.
Pakistani Azhar Mahmood, who qualified as BPL player because of his British passport, fell to unheralded Bishwanath Halder for 10 and two run-outs in the next over did not help their cause either.
Sabbir Rahman and Phil Mustard found themselves in one end after the former pushed for a single off Elton Chigumbura and it took third umpire to determine who was actually run out.
The verdict finally went against Sabbir but Burners’ English wicketkeeper-batsman Mustard, who made 22 from 24 balls, also did not survive too long having been run out in the same over.
Kabir Ali provided some lusty blows hitting four sixes and as many fours to score a half-century off just 20 balls, but it came too late.
Sohrawardi Shuvo ended his innings of 21-ball 50 as Burners were restricted to 142-9 to start their tournament on a wrong foot.
BRIEF SCORES
Sylhet Royals 175-7 in 20 overs (P Stirling 50, M Haque 45; A Kapali 2-20, K Ali 2-38) v Barisal Burners 192-9 in 20 overs (Kabir Ali 50, P Mustard 22, M Hasan 20; S Shuvo 3-23, M Nabi 2-15).
Result: Sylhet Royals won by 33 runs.
Man of the match: P Stirling (SR)
-With New Age input
