Chittagong Vikings held their nerves to win a low-scoring thrillers in the first match of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Dhaka on Saturday.
Chasing a small target of 99, Vikings lost seven wickets on their way to 3-wicket win against defending champions Rangpur Riders.
Earlier, Rangpur Riders were all out for 98 in their quota of 20 overs despite Ravi Bopara’s 44.
In reply, Mohammad Shahzad (27) and captain Mushfiqur Rahim (25) helped Vikings go past the target with five balls to spare.
Rangpur Riders: 98/10 in 20 overs (Bopara 44, Shohag Gazi 21; Frylinck 4/14, Naeem 2/10, Abu Jayed 2/30)
Chittagong Vikings: 101/7 in 19.1 overs (Shahzad 27, Mushfiqur 25, Frylinck 12*; Mashrafe 2/24, Farhad Reza 1/10, Howell 1/13)
Squads
Rangpur Riders: Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, AB de Villiers, Shafiul Islam, Sohag Gazi, Farhad Reza, Mehedi Maruf, Ravi Bopara, Rilee Rossouw, Nahidul Islam, Nadif Chowdhury, Abul Hasan, Benny Howell, Oshane Thomas
Chittagong Vikings: Sunzamul Islam, Sikandar Raza, Luke Ronchi, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Shahzad, Robbie Frylinck, Mosaddek Hossain, Abu Jayed, Khaled Ahmed, Nayeem Hasan, Cameron Delport, Dasun Shanaka, Mohammad Ashraful, Robiul Haque, Yasir Ali, Nihaduzzaman, Najibullah Zadran, Shadman Islam
The 35-day tournament will end on February 8 following the final at SBNCS.
Dhaka Dynamites, Rajshahi Kings, Khulna Titans, Rangpur Riders, Comilla Victorians, Chittagong Vikings and Sylhet Sixers are the seven participant teams for this edition of BPL.
Like the previous year, matches will be played on three venues across the country. Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS), Sylhet is the latest venue after Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) and Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS), Chattogram.
Gazi TV (GTV) and Maasranga Television are the two official broadcast partner from Bangladesh for this year’s BPL. Rabbithole app will also provide live streaming for both Android and iOS users.
This years BPL will witness some of the famous superstars around the world to play this competition for the first time. Ex South African batsman AB de Villiers was signed by Rangpur Riders. Rangpur also signed England batsman Alex Hales. Comilla Victorians have signed another Aussie batsman Steve Smith. Sylhet Sixers brought in Australia opener David Warner and appointed him as the captain of the side. Sylhet also signed leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane who will be the first ever from Nepal to play in the BPL.