Mahmudullah’s late flourish guides Rangpur to victory

Rangpur Riders returned to winning tracks as Mahmudullah Riyad’s late flourish guided them to a comfortable six-wicket win against Sylhet Titans in the Bangladesh Premier League at the Sylhet International Stadium on Friday.

Chasing 145, Rangpur were kept under pressure for most of the innings before Mahmudullah and Khushdil Shah calmly closed out the chase to seal the victory.

Mahmudullah remained unbeaten on 34 off 16, while Khushdil contributed 19 off 11 as the pair guided Rangpur home with a measured partnership at the end.

Sylhet, asked to bat first, were restricted to 144 for 8 in 20 overs as Mustafizur Rahman and Faheem Ashraf took three wickets each with disciplined spells.

Sylhet squeezed Rangpur for long periods during the chase. Khaled Ahmed made the early breakthrough when Dawid Malan skied a catch in the fifth over.

Nasum Ahmed then removed Towhid Hridoy — who never looked comfortable — after grasping two chances off Litton Das from his own bowling.

Litton, after adding 34 with Kyle Mayers, fell for 35 off 25 when he was caught spectacularly by Afif Hossain off Saim Ayub at long-on.

The required run rate climbed beyond 10 an over when Mehidy Hasan Miraz introduced Ethan Brookes as the eighth bowler. After conceding 12 off the first four balls, Brookes struck with the key wicket of Mayers, who made 31 off 29.

However, with 49 required from 30 balls, Mahmudullah took on Miraz, striking 18 off four balls to swing the momentum decisively back in Rangpur’s favour. That burst effectively broke Sylhet’s grip on the contest.

Earlier, Sylhet lost their first three batters inside the powerplay as Rangpur made a strong start with the ball.

Saim Ayub fell to Aliss Al Islam after a brisk start, Mehidy Hasan was caught off Mustafizur Rahman, and Rony Talukder was bowled by Faheem Ashraf.

Afif Hossain then rebuilt with partnerships of 28 and 66 alongside Parvez Hossain and Ethan Brookes respectively, but Sylhet never managed to fully accelerate.

Afif became Mustafizur’s second victim after scoring 46 off 31, while Brookes was dismissed by Faheem in the 19th over. In between, Faheem also removed Azmatullah Omarzai, Sylhet’s hero from the previous match.

Faheem finished with figures of 3 for 18, Mustafizur claimed 3 for 24, while Aliss Al Islam and Mrittunjoy Chowdhury took one wicket each.