Haider Ali shines as Chittagong Kings through to BPL playoffs

 
Chittagong Kings made a giant stride toward the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) playoffs with a thumping five-wicket win over highflying Rangpur Riders at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing a challenging 144 for win, Chittagong Kings' Pakistani recruit Haider Ali blasted four sixes in row with a crucial 18-ball 48 as Kings surpassed the target 14 balls in hand.

Chittagong currently holds the third spot in the point table with 12 points from ten matches after beating Rangpur on Wednesday.
Apart from Haider's blazing knock, opener Parvez Hossain Imon also provided 43-ball 41 as Chittagong sealed a comfortable win. Haider was named the player of the match after hitting six sixes.

Earlier, Pakistan recruit Iftikhar Ahmed lifted Rangpur Riders to 143-5 after a shaky start against Chittagong Kings in their 11th match of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The veteran Pakistan batter struck 47 ball-65 not out with seven fours and three sixes to give the scoreboard some decent look.
He added 75 runs with Mahedi Hasan in 46 balls for the unbeaten sixth wicket stand after the side was in troubling 68-5 in 12.2 over. Mahedi was unbeaten on 22.

Put into bat first, Rangpur made a poor start with opener Steven Taylor continuing his horrendous form being out for naught in the first over.
Soumya Sarkar hammered 17 ball-23 but failed to convert it to big. After his dismissal, Rangpur middle order fell like pack of cards before Iftikhar came as the saviour. Fast bowler Syed Khaled Ahmed picked up 2-44 in four overs for Chittagong.

 The match was crucial for Chittagong to stay alive for playoffs race. Rangpur which lost the previous two matches had already confirmed playoffs.

Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Riders are at top two spots with 16 points with Barishal occupying the top spot based on net run rate. Durbar Rajshahi, however moved to fourth spot, thanks to their three wins in a row of late. After finishing the group phase, Rajshahi have 12 points
from 12 matches.

While Dhaka Capital and Sylhet Strikers are now out of the race, Rajshahi and Khulna are vying for the fourth spot.

Khulna Tigers with eight points from 10 matches are at fifth position and also at the most vulnerable spot at this moment. They will take the field on Thursday with the game against Rangpur Riders. If they loss that match, Rajshahi will move to the playoffs straightway.

Rangpur however moved to the playoffs as the first team after winning eight matches in a row.  But later they lost three matches on the trot, which left their aspiration to finish top two at limbo.

Teams:

Chittagong Kings (Playing XI): Parvez Hossain Emon, Graham Clark, Shamim Hossain, Haider Ali, Mohammad Mithun(w/c), Lahiru Milantha, Rahatul Ferdous, Khaled Ahmed, Binura Fernando, Shoriful Islam, Aliss Al Islam

Rangpur Riders (Playing XI): Steven Taylor, Soumya Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nurul Hasan(w/c), Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Irfan Sukkur, Nahid Rana, Rakibul Hasan, Akif Javed