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Masterclass from De Villiers outclasses Dynamites

  • Published at 11:36 pm January 28th, 2019
AB De Villiers
Rangpur Riders batsman AB De Villiers plays a shot against Dhaka Dynamites during their BPL T20 match at Chittagong Dhaka Tribune/Md Manik

De Villers formed a magnificent unbroken 184-run partnership for the fourth wicket with opener Hales and remained unbeaten after picking his first BPL century. De Villers’ 100-run innings was composed of eight fours and six sixes

A master-class innings from AB de Villers (100*) and a scintillating one from Alex Hales (85*) ensured a commanding eight-wicket win for Rangpur Riders against Dhaka Dynamites during their BPL 6 match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong on Monday.

Chasing the Dynamites 186/6, Rangpur lost two early wickets in 1.5 overs as  both Chris Gayle and in-form Rilee Rossouw were back in the pavilion with only five runs on the board. But De Villers set the tone of a counter-attack by hitting a six in the first ball and continued it till the end en route to his 50-ball ton.

De Villers formed a magnificent unbroken 184-run partnership for the fourth wicket with opener Hales and remained unbeaten after picking his first BPL century. De Villers’ 100-run innings was composed of eight fours and six si.

Hales, who struck a century in Riders’ last match, was brilliant at the other end as well as he remained unbeaten on 85 off just 53 balls with eight fours and three sixes.

Earlier, Dhaka scored 186 losing six wickets in their 20 overs. Rony Talukder scored 52 while Kieron Pollard made 37.

De Villiers was adjudged man-of-the-match.

On song Farhad Reza

The experienced Farhad Reza has turned things around in terms of performance as he was at the center of the action in the early part of the Dhaka innings. The all-rounder took two important wickets - Hazratullah Zazai and Shakib Al Hasan - in his first spell. He took a well judged catch to remove Sunil Narine in Nazmul Islam’s bowling and took a stunner to get the wicket of Andre Russell off the bowling of Mashrafe Mortaza to prove he is still one of the most agile fielders in Bangladesh, even at the age of 32.  

Mashrafe removes Russell

Rangpur skipper Mashrafe took the important wicket of Andre Russell in the second ball of the 14th over. The West Indies all-rounder was looking dangerous during his short stay in a batting friendly wicket. Russell struck one boundary and one six in seven balls. He tried to clear the boundary once again but got caught at deep mid wicket thanks to a diving Farhad.

Russell removes Gayle, Rossouw in same over

Windies all-rounder Russell got the wicket of danger man Gayle and in-form Rossouw in the same over to give Dynamites a great start while defending 186. Gayle tried a pull shot and got a top edge which was caught by Sunil Narine at mid-on while Rossouw also tried to pull but managed just a faint edge that was caught by wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan Sohan in his first ball. 

Hales-De Villiers partnership

AB De Villiers and Alex Hales controlled the situation with a master-class batting performance after losing two early wickets and chased down the 187-run target brilliantly with both batsmen remaining unbeaten. It was a superb display of batting by both the batsmen with controlled aggression and proper cricket shots all around the park. De Villiers - known as Mr 360 for his ability to play shots in every corner of the ground - showed his prowess with brilliant albeit pure cricketing shots.  On the other hand, Englishman Hales, who is one of the most fearsome hitters in the world currently, also seemed to match the great South African in their sublime stand. On such a day no bowler in the world would have the capacity to stop this mayhem and Dhaka’s bowlers could not show any miracle as the Chittagong crowd observed a brilliant cricketing show of class, power and charisma. 

BPL Standing 

This win propels Rangpur Riders to the top of the table with 12 points and six wins from ten games. For Dhaka, the loss means they have ten points with five wins from nine games. 


Dhaka Dynamites INNINGS                         R             B

Zazai c Mithun b Farhad                                17           18

Narine c Farhad b Nazmul                            28           19

Talukdar c Hales b Shafiul                             52           32

Shakib b Farhad                                              25           12

Russell c Farhad b Mashrafe                        14           8

Pollard not out                                                 37           23

Shuvagata b Shahidul                                     1              2

Nurul Hasan not out                                       3              6

Extras (lb 6, w 3) 9

TOTAL  (6 Wicket, 20 Overs) 186

Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Hazratullah Zazai, 5.1 ov), 2-51 (SP Narine, 6.4 ov), 3-105 (Shakib Al Hasan, 11.2 ov), 4-130 (AD Russell, 13.2 ov), 5-151 (Rony Talukdar, 15.6 ov), 6-155 (Shuvagata Hom, 16.5 ov)

Bowling 

Nahidul Islam 3-0-22-0, Mashrafe Mortaza 4-0-30-1, Farhad Reza 3-0-32-2, Nazmul Islam 3-0-35-1, Shafiul Islam 4-0-35-1, Shahidul Islam 3-0-26-1

Rangpur Riders INNINGS                              R             B

Gayle c Narine b Russell                                1              6

Hales not out                                                   85           53

Rossouw c Nurul b Russell                            0              1

Villiers not out                                                 100         50

Extras  (lb 1, w 2) 3

TOTAL (2 Wickets, 18.2 Overs) 189

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (CH Gayle, 1.4 ov), 2-5 (RR Rossouw, 1.5 ov)                  

Bowling 

Shahadat Hossain 2-0-16-0, AD Russell 3-0-30-2, Shakib Al Hasan  4-0-41-0, SP Narine 4-0-45-0, Rubel Hossain 4-0-42-0, Qazi Onik 1.2-0-14-0                             

Riders won by 8 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

MoM: AB de Villiers (RR)