Chris Gayle failed to reproduce his opening day’s form but Barisal Burners still managed to find a way to beat Duronto Rajshahi by 22 runs in their second match in the Bangladesh Premier League on Saturday.
Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad set up the win with his second consecutive fifty leading Burners to 180-2 before Rajshahi stuttered from the start to end their chase on 158-9.
Rajshahi were shivering in cold when Barisal had won the toss and opted to bat readily with Chris Gayle giving an ominous signal for them, starting from where he ended his unbeaten 101 off 44 balls in the previous match.
However, they somehow could stop Gayle, albeit in a controversial circumstance, which gave the side a great hope to bounce from a humiliating 53-run defeat to Chittagong Kings on the opening day.
Sean Ervine dropped Gayle off Syed Rasel on 19 and it looked like they will have to pay dearly for it.
When everyone felt despondent, Abdul Razzak managed a nick from Gayle and Mushfiqur Rahim duly caught it behind the stumps.
But umpire David Orchard ruled Gayle not out which left everyone in the Rajshahi dugout disappointed. Mushfiq had a brief chat with Orchard and accepted the decision as there was no provision of seeking the opinion of the television umpire for a catch in this tournament.
They, however, got their justice in a short span of time as Gayle nicked again in the next over, this time off the bowling of his compatriot Marlon Samuels, which prompted Gayle to walk out without waiting for the decision of the umpire.
If the dismissal of Gayle was a relief, the batting of Shehzad at the other end was a causing a big concern for Duronto with his clean hitting that finally earned him 67 runs from 40 balls with four fours and six sixes.
Shahriar Nafees conceded tournament’s first maiden over after Gayle’s dismissal, but Shehzad kept the scoreboard ticking before Razzak had him caught by Syed Rasel.
Nafees (28 from 32 balls) and Brad Hodge (38 from 25 balls) took them to a total that was always challenging in this format.
Things turned worse for Duronto when they lost three wickets for 42 runs before unheralded opener Mizanur Rahman put up some residence. However, two wickets in two balls by Australian pacer Shane Harwood in the 16th over threw them completely out of the game.
Shehzad took a stunning catch in the first ball of the over before Harwood bowled Mizanur with a late swinging yorker. Mizanur, who played for Prime Doleshwar in the Dhaka Premier League and scored only 199 runs at 22.11 in nine matches, top-scored for Rajshahi with 65 off 52 balls.
Sean Ervine staved off the hat-trick ball but could not prevent his side from conceding their second defeat in as many matches.
-With New Age input
