Fruitful day for Pakistanis in BPL

Afridi earns man-of-the-match award for all-round performance; Malik makes 63


News Desk November 22, 2016
Afridi, playing for the Rangpur Riders, claimed two wickets for 30 runs in Chittagong on November 22, 2016. PHOTO COURTESY: BCB

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik both enjoyed highly productive outings for their respective Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) teams yesterday, with performances from both players guiding their sides to victory.

Afridi, playing for the Rangpur Riders, claimed two wickets for 30 runs and contributed 26 runs to the chase to finish as the man of the match for the Riders, while Malik smashed a whopping nine boundaries and two sixes in his quick-fire 30-ball 63-run knock to send the Chittagong crowd in delirium.

Riders, who were asked to bowl first, restricted Khulna Titans to 125 runs as Afridi claimed a brace, while Arafat Sunny and Rubel Hossain finished with figures of 2-16 and 2-19 respectively.

Latif heroics in vain as Nabi inspires Vikings

In reply, the Titans claimed the wicket of Soumya Sarkar early on to increase the pressure on the Riders but that pressure was not allowed to build as Mohammad Mithun (49) and Afridi (26), who had come in to bat after fiery opener Mohammad Shahzad was dismissed for 37 runs, stood strong to register a 35-run third-wicket partnership to successfully reach the target.

The win took the Riders to the top of the BPL table, deposing Titans off the throne, with a match in hand.

Junaid takes two wickets to guide Titans victory

In the other match, Malik, along with Dwayne Smith, was the star for the Chittagong Vikings as they both made 69 and 63 runs respectively to put up an imposing 185-run total against Barisal Bulls.

The Bulls, completely overwhelmed by the daunting target collapsed at the slightest of touches, bundling out for 107 as Vikings won by 78 runs.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2016.

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