Rajshahi Royals have won the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title after defeating Khulna Tigers by 21 runs in the Final. Wicketkeeper-batsman Irfan Sukkur, skipper Andre Russell, all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, and bowler Mohammad Irfan played leading roles in the Royals’ victory.
Khulna Tigers won the toss and opted to field first. They managed to get Rajshahi Royals’ opener Afif Hossain out early in the 3rd over of the match. Liton Das scored 25 runs from 28 balls. All-rounder Shoaib Malik, who smacked 80 runs in the 1st Qualifier against Khulna Tigers, lost his wicket to Mohammad Amir on just 9 runs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Irfan Sukkur struck 52 from 35 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Royals’ captain Andre Russell and Mohammad Nawaz put on display a fabulous show of hitting as they took the total to 170 from 107 in just 4 overs.
Andre Russell scored 27 from 16 balls but it was Nawaz who did the actual damage. Mohammad Nawaz added 41 runs to the board from just 20 balls. Rajshahi Royals finished on 170/4. Mohammad Amir took 2 wickets for 35 runs, while Robbie Frylinck and Shahidul Islam took 1 wicket each.
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Khulna Tigers required 171 runs to win from 20 overs. They lost both their openers till the 2nd over of the innings. Shamsur Rahman and Rilii Rossouw’s 74 runs partnership brought them back into the game. However, Khulna Tigers really needed some power hitting at this point. Tigers’ skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman, Mushfiqur Rahim added 21 runs from 15 balls.
After 20 overs, Tigers could only score 149 runs for 8 wickets as they lost the BPL final by 21 runs. Royals’ Mohammad Irfan took 2 wickets for 18 runs while also bowling a maiden over. Andre Russell and Kamrul Islam Rabbi also secured 2 wickets each. Mohammad Nawaz and Abu Jayed secured 1 wicket in the BPL Final.
Royals’ skipper Andre Russell was awarded both the “Player of the Match” and “Player of the Tournament” awards for his all-round performance in the BPL Final and throughout the entire league.
