Rangpur Riders clinched their eighth successive win in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League after they beat Fortune Barishal by just one wicket during a thrilling contest at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Monday.
Rangpur pacer Abu Hider Rony provided a stellar bowling performance as he claimed 5-12 in his four overs while Hasan Mahmud also took two wickets as Rangpur restricted their opponents to 151-9 in 20 overs after Barishal decided to bat first.
Rangpur, in reply, got off to a rollicking start as Brandon King smashed three fours and four sixes for his 22-ball 45 while Shakib Al Hasan also made a quick-fire 29 off 15 balls to help their side reach 74-2 in the sixth over. Barishal bowlers led by Mehidy Hasan Miraz (3-24) then hit back in the contest by taking a few wickets that limited Rangpur to 118-6 in the 14th over.
However, Jimmy Neesham then struck 28 off 17 balls while Dwaine Pretorius scored 13 runs but Barishal took regular wickets to reduce Rangpur 149-9 in the 19th over. Hasan Mahmud then hit the winning boundary off Mohammad Saifuddin in the third ball of the final over to take Rangpur to 155-9 and hand Barishal fifth defeat in the tournament.
Earlier on the day, Barishal reached 110-2 in the 12th over after Kyle Mayers made 46 runs while Tamim Iqbal and Tom Banton made 33 and 26 runs respectively. However, since the dismissal of Banton off Neesham, Barishal witnessed a heavy collapse in their innings as they lost nine wickets for 34 runs to lose the early momentum in the contest. With this win, Rangpur also took a revenge of their first-leg match against Barishal which they lost by five wickets in Dhaka on 20 January.