Sakib secures second place for Dhaka Dynamites

Dhaka Dynamites skipper Sakib al Hasan all-round show assured his team that can make an extra shot at making the BPL final as they finished second place in the points table in the Bangladesh Premier League after their 43-run victory over Rangpur Riders at Mirpur on Wednesday.

Sakib came up with a rescue act on the back of his huge experience as he first lifted Dhaka from the depths of 48 for 5 with 47 off 33 balls as and later took two wickets that helped them to restrict Rangpur to 94 for 7 after putting chase of 137 for 7.

Dhaka will face table-toppers Comilla Victorians in the first qualifier on December 8 after the opening game that will see Rangpur take on Khulna Titans in the Eliminator at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Rangpur, who were also missing dashing opener Chris Gayle, kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the Dhaka bowlers reigned supreme.
Riders slumped to 39 for five inside 10 overs as Abu Hider, Shakib, Mossaddek Hossain and Mohammed Amir dictated terms with tight bowling.

Shakib removed Brendon McCullum in the fourth over, out bowled after the batsman tried to cut away a delivery without any room to work with. Abu Hider had a good outing as he grabbed two wickets, removing Shahriar Nafees, out caught behind and Johnson Charles out bowled in the seventh and eighth over respectively.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan proved to be the difference as his knock with the bat helped the Dynamites to a considerable total before he picked up two wickets for 13 runs in his four overs.

After a stuttering start, defending Champions Dhaka Dynamites rode on a late Shakib Al Hasan surge to reach a middling 137 for seven after choosing to bat first against Rangpur Riders in the sides' last group match of the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League.

Although both sides have qualified to the playoffs stage, Dhaka had the chance to seal second position in the seven-team table and give themselves two shots at getting to the December 12 final by playing the qualifier against Comilla Victorians instead of an eliminator.