ESPNcricinfo’s experts were divided between Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh for the third seamer’s spot

Sidharth Monga15-May-2022India should pick their T20I seam attack from the quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh, ESPNcricinfo experts Daniel Vettori and Piyush Chawla have said. They were full of praise for Shami on ESPNcricinfo’s analaysis show T20 Time:Out after his figures of 4-0-19-2 helped Gujarat Titans keep Chennai Super Kings down to 133 on Sunday.Related

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Shami now has the joint-most wickets in the powerplay in IPL 2022, and he even bowled a boundary-less 20th over in which he got the wicket of MS Dhoni. Shami is joint-fourth on the wicket-takers’ list, with 11 of his 18 wickets having come inside the powerplay. However, it is his maturity at the death that has impressed the experts.”This is one of the best seasons for Shami,” Chawla said. “Because we have seen him previously that he generally bowls well with the new ball and by the time he comes to bowl in the death overs he goes for a lot of runs. But this season he has worked on it, and he has bowled well in the death overs as well. We all know he can bowl really well with the new ball. The only problem was in the death overs. But this year he has shown that he has those clear plans for death overs, and he has executed those plans beautifully.”Vettori would have Shami even without that death-bowling improvement. “It shows that Test-match bowling works for the first sort of 16 overs of a T20 game,” Vettori said. “He normally relies on heavy lengths, and a little bit of seam movement. We talked about how [Mohammed] Siraj has lost the ability of seam movement because of his seam position. Shami’s seam position is impeccable.”It is what all young fast bowlers should look at. His release and his ability to hit a consistent area and then letting the ball do the work. He is not asking too much of the ball. He is not trying to swing it too far. He just hits such lengths. And the improvement and maturity that we are talking about in the death bowling. Whereas in the past Shami could be hit or miss like Umesh Yadav. But now he actually has strong plans and backs himself to hit that yorker.”Arshdeep Singh has the best death-overs economy rate of any bowler who has delivered at least eight overs in that phase this season•BCCI

Both Chawla and Vettori had Shami in their first India XI, but disagreed on the third quick.”If you talk about his [Shami’s] current form, he definitely looks like one of them [three picks for an India pace attack],” Chawla said. “He has got pace, he has got that seam movement, the seam position and the wrist position is so amazing that even when there is nothing on the pitch he gets something out of it. Definitely, the way he is bowling, he should be one of the picks.”Vettori wouldn’t even bowl Shami at the death, but would have Bumrah and Harshal do the job. “I think Bumrah and Harshal Patel have to be in the team because of their death bowling,” Vettori said. “What they bring to the table. Harshal can bowl through those middle stages. The third seamer is tough to pick but Shami is potentially clearing out because of his ability to take wickets in the powerplay, bowl aggressively through the middle stages and with the back end taken care of by Bumrah and Harshal.”For Chawla the difficult choice is between Harshal and Arshdeep. He was full of praise for the Punjab Kings left-arm quick. “For me I think I still pick between Harshal and Arshdeep,” Chawla said. “The way Arshdeep has bowled this tournament. He has just been outstanding at the death. He is somebody who doesn’t use new ball much. There would be a pick between Harshal and Arshdeep, and Bumrah and Shami for sure. The powerplay is really important, and it is important to pick up wickets. Gujarat Titans have picked wickets in the powerplay, and that shows in the points table.”Among the 23 bowlers who have bowled a minimum of eight overs at the death during this IPL, Arshdeep has the best economy rate of 7.14, over 14 overs. Bumrah is second with 7.46 in 14.2 overs. Harshal has gone at 9.46 an over but has picked up more wickets than Arshdeep and Bumrah.

Nervy Mumbai complete a small chase to snuff out Super Kings’ hopes of sneaking into the playoffs

Andrew Miller12-May-20222:49

Piyush Chawla on Conway lbw: ‘Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t’

Mumbai Indians 103 for 5 (Varma 34*, Choudhary 3-23) beat Chennai Super Kings 97 (Dhoni 36*, Sams 3-16) by five wicketsThe greatest rivalry in IPL history lived down to its improbable basement-battle status, as Chennai Super Kings gave Mumbai Indians an outside chance of leapfrogging them at the bottom of this year’s standings with a scrappy five-wicket defeat at the Wankhede Stadium.Not for the first time, Super Kings were discombobulated by the early swing that Mumbai seamers were able to extract, as they slumped to 97 all out with four overs left used. It was their second-lowest total in IPL history, behind the 79 they made on this ground in 2013, while they also lost five wickets in the powerplay for the second time – again, Mumbai were responsible for the previous occasion, at Sharjah in 2020.At least Super Kings’ own quicks resolved to go down fighting, as Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh combined to grab four wickets inside five overs – and very briefly it seemed that MS Dhoni’s partial rally of 36 not out from 33 balls (three times as many as any of his team-mates) might have just given his team a fighting chance. However, Tilak Varma and Hrithik Shokeen – who between them barely add up to Dhoni’s 40 years – broke the chase with a responsible grind of 48 in 7.5 overs, before Tim David’s typically forceful finish.Power outage? Powerplay outage

Farcical scenes greeted the opening exchanges of the contest, as a local power outage meant that no DRS was available for the start of Super Kings’ innings. What came next was thoroughly inevitable. Daniel Sams’ first delivery to Devon Conway nipped back off the seam to thump him on the pad, and umpire C Ravikanthreddy’s response was mercilessly instantaneous. Conway was nonplussed, to put it mildly – the ball might, at a pinch, have been clipping the outer extremity of his leg stump. But the die was cast, and die Super Kings did.Daniel Sams got rid of Devon Conway and Moeen Ali in the very first over•BCCI

Moeen Ali, never the most comfortable starter against the quicks, emerged at No. 3 and didn’t hang about. A second-ball bouncer stopped in the pitch as Moeen swung too eagerly across the line and scuffed an ugly hoick to short midwicket, and at 2 for 2 after four legitimate balls, the omens weren’t too promising, even before Jasprit Bumrah had started walking to the top of his mark.Against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, Bumrah had sauntered off with the small matter of 5 for 10 in four overs. Now he made it 6 for 10 in 4.4, as Robin Uthappa was beaten hollow in an undignified stay – three times outside the off stump, and finally pinned plumb in front of that same stump for 1, as he flitted across the line to leave Super Kings utterly beached at 5 for 3. Before the next ball had been bowled, the DRS issue had been resolved – though fortunately for Uthappa, not in time for him to waste a lifeline.Aussies rule in the middle overs
Sams will bowl better balls than the leg-side long-hop that snaffled his third wicket in the space of 13 balls – Ruturaj Gaikwad had just driven Bumrah for four through the covers in his previous, a rare feat this week, but his follow-up was to feather a slender edge to Ishan Kishan for 7.Riley Meredith’s arrival for the final over of the powerplay, however, produced a rather more classical fast bowler’s breakthrough, as Ambati Rayudu was sawn in half by a nip-backer from back of a length, for Kishan to gobble the inside edge.With Shivam Dube emerging at 29 for 5, there might have been a temptation to turn back to Bumrah for his third over out of seven, but Meredith was perfectly capable of giving the new man the hurry-up. An attempted ramp off the short ball ended up as a muffed top edge, and at 39 for 6, Kishan had suddenly three catches in the space of four overs.Tilak Varma acknowledges the crowd after taking Mumbai Indians to victory•BCCI

Dhoni has licence to go deep
Dhoni is never a man to let a match situation tilt his equilibrium. Presumably, all he saw as Dwayne Bravo emerged (for a seventh-wicket stand that would exactly double the total without remotely rescuing the cause) was the chance to bed in and drag the innings as deep as was feasible.An early flurry hinted at what he might yet be capable of, as Kumar Kartikeya was flayed for consecutive fours to bring up the team’s 50, before Dhoni smoked his next ball, from Shokeen, over square leg for six. But Bravo never quite settled in the same circumstances. He had been living dangerously for 13 balls before clouting Kartikeya over long-on for six, but one ball later, he took on an ambitious drive, and drilled a head-high chance to short cover.Three balls later, Simarjeet became Kartikeya’s second wicket of the over, and when Maheesh Theekshana responded to a sharp bouncer from Ramandeep Singh with the meekest of prods to cover, time and wickets were running out for Dhoni. He bided his time as Sams completed a superb day’s work with 3 for 16, then tried to take on Meredith’s extra pace with a four and a six in the 16th over. But Kishan, alert to the likelihood of a final-ball bye, clawed down the bouncer and unleashed his shy with glove still attached. It was unerring, and Choudhary was caught yards short.Choudhary, Simarjeet go down guns blazing
With so few runs to play with, there was no scope for subtlety in Super Kings’ response. For just the fourth time in IPL history, both new-ball bowlers – Choudhary and Simarjeet in this case – rattled straight through all four of their overs, and instigated something approaching panic in Mumbai’s ranks too – reducing the chase to 33 for 4 in the first five overs.Choudhary, in particular, bowled a beautifully sharp line, swinging the ball late to prise out Kishan in his first over before seizing the moment in his third – as first Sams, then the South African debutant Tristan Stubbs, both paid the price for their safety-first reticence. Each was served up a full toss the ball before they fell but neither could capitalise and they were both nailed lbw for a total of 1 from eight balls.Only Rohit Sharma – inevitably – had the measure of the conditions, as he set himself to counterattack against the attacking length and took some sizeable lumps out of the target with four fours in his 18. Simarjeet found the nick in his second over, as a total of nine wickets fell across the two powerplays – the joint-most in IPL history – but by the end of the new-ball spells, Varma and Shokeen had ridden out the threat, to ease Mumbai towards their third win in the last four outings. Ordinarily, you’d say that was a classic example of peaking at the right time. For once, it hasn’t been quite that straightforward.

India sealed their 12th successive T20I win over Sri Lanka as Harmanpreet Kaur became their leading T20I run-getter

Vishal Dikshit25-Jun-20222:55

Mandhana: ‘Shafali and I knew which bowlers we wanted to target’

When it started to look like Sri Lanka would post a strong total after their brisk 87-run opening stand and make India work hard to win the second match of the series, the hosts lost six wickets for just 14 runs in the last 3.1 overs of their innings to end with a below-par 125 that didn’t prove to be enough.India were made to work slightly in the chase but their deep batting line-up, led by Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, chased down the target easily to clinch the series 2-0 and help India win their 12th T20I in a row against Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s best opening stand in T20Is
Unlike the first T20I in which Sri Lanka struggled to score freely and lost early wickets, Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu gave their team a solid opening stand after a scratchy start. Gunaratne hogged the strike for the first three overs and struck four fours in the first four overs on either side of the pitch.Athapaththu, meanwhile, had faced only three balls at the end of the fourth over and took seven balls to get off the mark after missing plenty of cuts and heaves. But once she hit her first boundary – a straight six off Deepti Sharma followed by a slog sweep for four in the same over – she cut loose. They collected 12 off the last powerplay over to reach 37 and found boundaries against both pace and spin to post 60 at the halfway mark. Athapaththu targeted her favoured leg side and was particularly attacking against Deepti to score 19 off her 10 balls. She also got two lives when she was dropped at cover point on 24 and survived a tough stumping chance on 34, when Renuka sent a wide down the leg side but Yastika Bhatia couldn’t hit the stumps.Sri Lanka slide after opening stand
Soon after Athapaththu collected two fours in an over off Deepti and Renuka Singh each and brought up Sri Lanka’s best opening stand in T20Is, she holed out to deep square leg off Pooja Vastrakar for 43 off 41.Harmanpreet Kaur shepherded India home after a few quick wickets•Sri Lanka Cricket

When Vastrakar and Harmanpreet conceded just 12 runs in the space of four overs, Gunaratne felt the pressure and also fell by handing a return catch to Harmanpreet for 45 off 50. No Sri Lanka batter reached double-figures thereafter as Deepti came back to remove Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva in the 18th over, Hasini Perera and Oshadi Ranasinghe fell in the 19th and Renuka removed Dilhari Kavisha in the last to keep the hosts’ tally of the last four overs to just 19 runs for five wickets.Harmanpreet takes India home after a strong start
Mandhana started the chase with an exquisite cover drive, and Shafali Verma helped India put on 31 in four overs with her trademark power and charge down the pitch. She went after Ranasinghe’s offbreaks by hitting her over mid-off in the second over, and when she tried a third consecutive boundary against her in the fourth over, she found mid-off to fall for 17 off 10.S Meghana took on left-arm quick Udeshika Prabodhani with four fours in the fifth over, using dabs behind square on either side, a well-timed cover drive and an outside edge, and India were 47 for 1 with one powerplay over left.India, however, stuttered in between when three of their batters were stumped but they never looked in trouble. Meghana was stumped off Kumari for 17 in the sixth over, before Mandhana continued to pepper the off-side boundary with her drives and dabs. By the time she fell at the end of the 11th over, India needed a comfortable 40 from 54 balls.Jemimah Rodrigues, India’s top scorer in the opening game, handed a catch to backward point for 3 before Bhatia stitched a patient stand of 23 with Harmanpreet. Even though Bhatia was also stumped, for 13 in the 18th over, India needed just 12 more off 16 and Harmanpreet sealed the win with her trademark sweep. En route, she also became the leading T20I runscorer for India, going past Mithali RajIndia won’t be completely pleased with the performance though. They leaked overthrows and gave the hosts nearly three run-out chances in one ball when Harmanpreet swept a ball in the 18th over to deep midwicket and called for two, but Bhatia didn’t want the second. A wayward throw from the deep saved Bhatia, the fielder backing up couldn’t run her out either at the bowler’s end, and another throw reached the keeper’s end slightly late when the batters took the third run.

Mitchell Starc has confirmed he won’t make himself available for the BBL amid the push for Australia’s multi-format stars to feature in the competition

AAP03-Jul-2022Mitchell Starc has become the first Australian star to confirm he won’t play in this summer’s Big Bash League as negotiations loom on future player availability.This summer shapes as crucial for the competition out of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Cricket Australia desperate to have as much top-line talent playing as often as possible.Australia’s multi-format stars are expected to be available for a sizeable part of it, with January’s one-day series against South Africa set to be cancelled.But that won’t alter Starc’s position, who does not see himself featuring any time soon.The 32-year-old quick last played for the Sydney Sixers in 2014-15, while also forgoing close to $10 million in possible salaries since then.Related

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“I have always enjoyed the BBL when I have played it … but my approach with all franchise cricket hasn’t changed over the last seven years,” Starc told AAP in Galle.”My approach to the IPL, BBL, I have looked at the Australian schedule and wanting to be as fit and well-performed for that as I can. And franchise cricket has taken a back seat.”Starc’s position comes in the midst of a cluttered international schedule.Following the current tour in Sri Lanka, Australia have white-ball series against Zimbabwe, New Zealand, India, England and West Indies as well as a home T20 World Cup.Tests follow against West Indies and South Africa before the BBL window, with a tour of India, an away Ashes and a 50-over World Cup all highlighting next year’s calendar.”The schedule in the next 18 months is ridiculous,” Starc said. “I will always keep Australian cricket front of mind, and then franchise cricket [second].”I also like spending time at home and seeing my wife [Alyssa Healy, who is also often away].”Mitchell Starc hasn’t played in the BBL since 2014•Getty Images

The reluctance of Starc and others could however be challenged in coming years. There will be a push in the next pay negotiations for players to be contracted to a club and participating when not injured or on Australia duties.The current Memoriam of Understanding expires midway through 2023, meaning such a mechanism could be in place for the following summer if agreed upon.It comes amid criticism of the competition’s quality, with CA preparing to defend the league in the Federal Court as the Seven Network try to break from their broadcast deal.As things stand, Usman Khawaja (Brisbane Heat), Mitchell Swepson (Brisbane Heat), Nathan Lyon (Sixers) and Alex Carey (Adelaide Strikers) all have contracts for this summer.Marnus Labuschagne will likely re-sign with Heat and Travis Head has long played for Strikers. Steven Smith will also likely play, happy there is a push for clubs to be able to welcome Australian players into squads after being locked out last summer.Josh Hazlewood played for the Sixers as recent as 2019-20, while Cameron Green skipped last year and Pat Cummins and David Warner have long sat out.CA are confident the overseas player draft will bring pulling power to the competition, luring their first big fish with Faf du Plessis last week.

Goa Cricket Association president says the left-arm pacer will be part of the state’s pre-season white-ball trial matches

PTI11-Aug-2022Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun Tendulkar is all set to leave Mumbai and in all likelihood will ply his trade for Goa in the next Indian domestic season.Arjun, a 22-year-old left-arm pacer, who has also been a part of Mumbai Indians, played two T20s for Mumbai, during the 2020-21 edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, against Haryana and Puducherry.It has been learnt that Arjun has already applied for a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from his home association MCA.”Getting maximum game time on the ground is important for Arjun at this juncture of his career. We believe that the shift will improve the probability of Arjun featuring in more competitive matches. He is embarking on a new phase of his cricketing career,” SRT Sports Management said in a statement.Tendulkar played two unofficial Tests for the India Under-19s against Sri Lanka Under-19s three summers ago, and has featured in Mumbai’s probables list for the white-ball leg of the domestic season.He was also recently part of Mumbai Indians’ developmental squad, which played T20 games in England. The likes of Kumar Kartikeya and Dewald Brevis were also part of that squad, which played against English club sides.But, for Arjun, the biggest disappointment has reportedly been being dropped from the Mumbai squad this season without being given a chance to prove his mettle.Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president Suraj Lotlikar said Arjun is expected to be considered among the state’s pre-season probables.”We have been looking out for left-hand bowling talent [and to] also add players to the middle order with multiple skills. In this context, we invited Arjun Tendulkar to join the Goa side. We will be playing pre-season trial matches (white ball) and he will be playing in those games. The selectors will then take a call based on his performance,” Lotlikar told PTI.

Destructive innings proves too much for Lightning, as Vipers lie in wait in knock-outs

ECB Reporters Network17-Sep-2022South East Stars 281 for 9 (Smith 114, Macdonald-Gay 54) beat Lightning 169 (Boyce 60, Gray 3-29) by 112 runsBryony Smith’s majestic 114 set South East Stars up with a home Play-off clash with Southern Vipers and condemned Lightning to a limp farewell from the regional structure.Stars skipper Smith, who had played in all three of England’s T20I series victory over India last week, returned to smash an exhilarating first Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy century.Ryana Macdonald-Gay’s half-century backed up her captain to pile on 281 at the Uptonsteel County Ground in Leicester, which proved 112 runs too many despite Georgie Boyce scoring 60 on her second appearance since joining from Thunder.Stars will host Vipers at The County Ground, Beckenham on Wednesday, with the winners facing Diamonds at Lord’s on Sunday, September 25.Lightning lost the toss and were asked to field first in their last game as a Loughborough-based region, before moving to Nottinghamshire next year, but started their goodbye strongly as Grace Ballinger bowled Chloe Brewer with an in-swinger.That brought Smith to the crease, and despite four dots to start, destruction wasn’t far away.She never veered too far away from going at a run-a-ball throughout, helped by some luscious early driving, but streaked ahead with four consecutive boundaries off Ballinger to motor into the 40s.Her fourth time past 50 in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy came in 47, but it only took her a further 39 deliveries to become the competition’s 14th centurion in three seasons – and the second fastest to the landmark.Smith’s timing and picking up on poor legside balls were the foundation of the phenomenal innings but so too was her ability to dominate partnerships despite wickets falling regularly. She put on 40 with Kira Chathli, 66 with Jemima Spence (of which Smith scored 45) and 51 with Rhianna Southby.When she departed for 114, having smashed straight at mid-off to end a blistering innings packed with 17 fours and a six over long-on, it felt inevitable that Stars would slump in her wake.But 196 for seven was revived to 267 for eight after a low-risk, high-reward stand between Macdonald-Gay and Alexa Stonehouse. The former wristily found gaps to bring up a maiden List A half-century in 56 balls.It helped Stars end up on a well-above-par 281, although Ballinger’s three for 62 belied her impressive first five overs, while Kirstie Gordon was exemplary with two for 38.Franklin demolished the Lightning top order by bowling Marie Kelly via a chop on, running out Beth Harmer with a direct hit from square leg, and had Michaela Kirk leg before.Lucy Higham was struck in front by Eva Gray to leave Lightning in a heap on 54 for four, but Boyce showcased her impressive skills in a 76-run stand with the increasingly impressive Ella Claridge.The pair got their side back towards a manageable rate, with Boyce collecting a 60-ball fifty. But wicketkeeper Claridge fell for 35 and Boyce 70 within three overs of each other to stunt the hosts again, before the bottom fell out.Macdonald-Gay continued her fine day by bowling Boyce and Sophie Munro, Gray picked up her second and third when Thresa Graves was astonishingly caught at backward point by Southby and Josie Groves tickled behind. Dani Gregory picked up the last wicket of Ballinger with 70 balls to spare.

Sussex attack toils with returning spinner Jack Carson the only bowler to enjoy success

ECB Reporters Network13-Sep-2022Worcestershire 289 for 2 (Libby 142*, Pollock 98) lead Sussex 220 (Carson 58, Coles 54, Hudson-Prentice 51, Leach 4-37) by 69 runsJake Libby scored his second hundred in three games against Sussex to put Worcestershire in a strong position after two days at the 1st Central County Ground. The former Nottinghamshire player’s undefeated 142 – his second hundred of the season – helped his side reach 289 for 2, a lead of 69, in the 50 overs possible at Hove between the showers before bad light ended play at 5pm.Libby’s 125 not out had guided Worcestershire to victory over Sussex in a fourth-innings run chase at New Road a year ago and this effort could be a match-defining performance too as they look for the victory that would keep their hopes of promotion in the LV= Insurance County Championship alive.It was his 12th first-class century, second of the season and third against Sussex. Against them back in 2014 he became the first Nottinghamshire batsman for 68 years to score a hundred on debut. It has been a composed and chanceless effort so far, and the 29-year-old got to his century by stylishly forcing Brad Currie off the back foot for successive boundaries through the covers.Libby had added 195 for the first wicket with Ed Pollock, who agonisingly fell for 98, and 54 with Azhar Ali for the second before Jack Haynes (14 not out) joined him in an unbroken partnership of 40.Rain was never far away all day, with the floodlights on from the start, but umpires Nigel Llong and Hasan Adnan deserve every credit for keeping the players on for as much as they did when light but persistent drizzle set in during the afternoon.Apart from an lbw shout by Currie when Pollock was on 45, Worcestershire’s openers made serene progress in the morning session against a Sussex seam attack who could make little headway on a flat pitch.Pollock took two boundaries in the last over before lunch off Faheem Ashraf to move to 98 but in the second over after the resumption he tried to cut offspinner Jack Carson and wicketkeeper Oli Carter held the edge at the second attempt. Pollock’s innings included 16 fours and a six.Carson struck again in his 13th over when he dismissed Azhar for 16 as the former Pakistan captain got in a tangle attempting a pull shot and the ball looped off his bat to Tom Clark at slip.Carson, in his first match after a summer wrecked by knee and ankle injuries, was the pick of the attack despite the lack of assistance from the surface. He and skipper Tom Haines, who bowled eight overs at a cost of only 11 runs, offered control but Sussex’s seamers made little headway while Fynn Hudson-Prentice is only allowed to bowl nine overs in each innings as part of his rehabilitation following a back injury.There was a 90-minute rain break and when play resumed at 4.10pm only six more overs were bowled before bad light forced the teams off. Sussex will have a new ball available immediately on Wednesday but Worcestershire are in the driving seat.

Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2023Rangpur Riders 172 for 6 (Shamim 71, Talukdar 29, Khaled 2-23) beat Fortune Barishal 170 for 3 (Mehidy 69, Mahmudullah 34, Shanaka 2-23) by four wicketsRangpur Riders kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the BPL final after beating Fortune Barishal in Eliminator by four wickets. They will now face the losing side from Qualifier 1, starting later this evening.The match went down to the wire with Riders needing eight runs in the last over. Mahedi Hasan, though, settled the matter with two fours – the first a scoop and the second a thick outside edge – off Kamrul Islam, with three balls to spare. But it was Shamim Hossain, batting at No. 3 for the first time this season, who kept Rangpur’s chase intact. He struck four fours and as many sixes in his 51-ball 71, his highest T20 score, before holing out to long-on off Khaled Ahmed.Rangpur had lost Mohammad Naim for a duck in the first over of their 171-run chase when the left-hander skied Shakib Al Hasan. Rony Talukdar and Shamim shook off the early wicket with a 61-run stand. Talukdar struck two fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 29, before holing out to deep cover.Rangpur captain Nurul Hasan and Nicholas Pooran, who returned to the BPL after four years, fell in quick succession. Shakib trapped his opposite number with a classic arm-ball, before taking Pooran’s catch in the covers off a Khaled full-toss.Batting first, Barishal posted 170 for 3, an underwhelming total given how well they were batting in the middle overs. Andre Fletcher, who arrived for Barishal last night, added 46 for the first wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, before Mahmudullah took the side to 115 for 1 in the 14th over. It seemed like the perfect base but Mehidy and Mahmudullah fell in the space of 11 balls, leaving the rest of the Barishal batters to go big. But Karim Janat and Bhanuka Rajapaksa could add only 44 runs in the last 4.5 overs.Dasun Shanaka was the pick of the bowlers for Riders with figures of 2 for 23 from his three overs but it was Dwayne Bravo who dried up the scoring with his variations even if he didn’t pick up a wicket.