ESPNcricinfo staff
February 18, 2012
Duronto Rajshahi 126 for 6 (Mushfiqur 24*, Sunny 3-13) beat Chittagong Kings 117 for 9 (Shamsur 24, Sajib 3-22) by nine runs
The crowd in Chittagong were treated to two tense games, but had to go home disappointed as their home team, Chittagong Kings, fell short by nine runs in a low-scoring thriller against Duronto Rajshahi. Chittagong Kings got off to a good start chasing 127, but Rajshahi scripted a remarkable turnaround, thanks to the left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib, who took 3 for 22.
On a pitch taking turn, the Chittagong openers added 40 before Jahurul Islam was run-out. It was the opening which transformed Rajshahi's fortunes as Sajib took two in two balls. Jason Roy was bowled, before Ziaur Rahman was out edging to Junaid Siddique at slip. He added Nasir Jamshed to his tally and suddenly, Chittagong were feeling the heat.
The captain Mahmudullah and Shamsur Rahman led a recovery stand of 34, helped along the way by some ordinary fielding. At 89 for 4, just when the chase had a semblance of control, Mahmudullah fell for 18. There was no looking back from there on as Mohammad Sami struck twice to give Rajshahi the edge. He removed Shamsur top edging a short ball, but was a bit lucky to get Dwayne Bravo lbw, as replays indicated the ball may have missed the leg stump.
Farhad Reza was running out of partners and it didn't help that the required run rate kept climbing. Chittagong failed to find the boundaries and in the end couldn't get themselves to within a massive hit over the rope to finish things off.
Earlier, Chittagong's Arafat Sunny also found good purchase from the pitch, taking a miserly 3 for 13 off his four overs. The left-arm spinner dismissed the overseas trio of Khalid Latif, Marlon Samuels and Abdul Razzaq. After a scratchy start, Rajshahi were led by their captain Mushfiqur Rahim who scored a workmanlike 24 off 25 balls without any boundaries. In the end, the modest 126 turned out to be a match-winning total.
