Titans subdue Bulls to take top spot

With last evening's six-wicket win over Barisal Bulls at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium marking their fifth win in their last six Bangladesh Premier League matches, Khulna Titans moved to the top of the seven-team table with 12 points from eight matches.

The picture was markedly different for their opponents, who after starting strongly have endured four consecutive defeats. Barisal Bulls only have themselves to blame as their batting misfired in the face of decent bowling as they managed to score just 119 for five in the first innings. Riding on a 57-run fourth-wicket partnership between skipper Mahmudullah Riyad and Shuvagata Hom, Khulna reached the target with eight balls to spare when the skipper eased a single to long on to end unbeaten on a 35-ball 36 with two sixes and a four.

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In the day's afternoon match, Rajshahi Kings earned a hard-fought 12-run victory over then league leaders Rangpur Riders.

In the evening match, chasing 120, Khulna Titans got off to a rocky start with Taijul Islam bowling Hasanuzzaman for four runs with the fifth ball of the innings. Riki Wessels then departed in the fourth over, bowled by Rumman Raees, to leave Titans at 16 for two.

The fine job done by their bowlers, however, allowed them to relax and not worry about the run rate. Shuvagata and opener Taibur Rahman started the rebuilding job, adding 33 runs in 4.4 overs for the third wicket. Their association ended with the score on 49 in the ninth over when Shuvagata played the ball on the leg side and called Taibur through, but the opener could not beat Mushfiqur's direct hit.

That however brought the cool head of skipper Mahmudullah to the crease and he went about nullifying any fight left in Barisal with an incident-free 57-run fourth-wicket stand with Shuvagata. There was one last bit of joy for Barisal when Rumman bowled an excellent Yorker to disturb the bails of Shuvagata, who departed for a crucial and                     well-compiled 34-ball 40  with five fours and a six. By that time, however, just 14 runs were needed from 23  balls.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Mushfiqur Rahim's team could only manage 119 for five through a mixture of tight bowling from the Titans and irresponsible batting from Barisal, which included two unnecessary run-outs in the space of two overs.

The standout bowler for Titans was Junaid Khan, who sent down two overs for just eight runs while opening the bowling, and added the scalp of Dawid Malan, whose pull looped off the edge to wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran in the fourth over.

Shafiul Islam then came on in the next over and got rid of Jeevan Mendis who edged an attempted slog to third man. That brought Barisal's two most consistent performers in Mushfiqur and Shahriar Nafees together with the score on 24 for two.

It seemed that they would fish the Bulls out of trouble as Nafees slashed away two boundaries in the sixth over bowled by Kevon Cooper. They did put on 42 runs for the third wicket in 37 balls, but Nafees being trapped in front by Mosharraf Hossain for a 27-ball 23 in the 11th over ruined hopes of a substantial turnaround. 66 for three quickly became 79 for five as first Nadif Chowdhury and then Mushfiqur were needlessly run out.

Nadif had only himself to blame as he was yorked by Mosharraf in the 13th over and over-balanced out of the crease, but in his daze he failed to get back to the crease before Pooran smartly flicked the ball back onto the stumps. In the 15th over, after just having hit his third four that took him to 31 off 25 deliveries, Mushfiqur set off for a suicidal leg bye which resulted in both him and Thisara Perera stranded at the non-striker's end.

Perera, who hit an unbeaten 17 off 19, and Enamul Haque took Barisal to the end of the innings, adding 40 runs in 5.4 overs. Junaid bowled two more fabulous overs for just four runs, ending with excellent figures of one for 12 from his four. 15 runs in the last over bowled by Shafiul, thanks to a four and a six from Enamul, lifted Barisal to 119 -- a total that is likely to continue their losing run.