Dhaka Dynamites 183/9 (Pollard 62, Shakib 36, Shafiul 3/35) beat Rangpur Riders (Rossouw 83, Mithun 49, Aliss 4/26) 181/9 by 2 runsBPL lights up with Dhaka vs Rangpur

The two captains Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan shake hands after a fantastic match.

Debutant Al Islam Aliss clinched a debut hattrick to hand Shakib Al Hasan’s Dhaka Dynamites a brilliant victory under intense circumstances as they overcame Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s Rangpur Riders by just 2 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.

Batting first, Dhaka posted 183 for the loss of nine wickets, thanks to Kieron Pollard’s fantastic 26-ball 62. Rilee Rossouw though had other ideas and hit an incredible 44-ball 83. It looked like an innings that would be enough to see Mash’s side attain victory but Aliss turned the game on its head with a wonderful hattrick in the 18th over during his BPL debut.

It was a fantastic match that lit up the BPL after droves of people showed up to fill the stands during the first weekend match of the tournament. The match could have easily turned out to be a bitter experience for debutant Aliss but now it will be talked about for his brilliant performance as Dhaka overcame Rangpur in a tight encounter.

Needing 26 from three overs, Aliss sent back Mithun -- the man he had dropped twice in the eighth over and was taking Rangpur to a victory, before taking the scalp of Mashrafe and Farhad Reza to complete his hattrick. He then successfully defended 14 runs in the last over, giving away 11 runs as Dynamites picked up their third victory in the tournament in as many games.

Dynamites sent back the Universe Boss Chris Gayle (8) early on after the exchange, following a fantastic combined fielding effort from Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard at the boundary. However, it was Rilee Rossouw, who took the game on and responded to Pollard’s innings with a 44-ball 83-run knock as he picked up his second 50 of the tournament.  

Mithun (49 off 35), dropped on 18 by Aliss, was well on course to hand victory to Mash’s men before Aliss turned things around by first bagging the dangerous Rossouw, out stumped before his hattrick in the 18th over.

Earlier, In the biggest match of the tournament so far, Shakib Al Hasan’s Dhaka Dynamites came across Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s Rangpur Riders and the crowd were treated to some fantastic power-hitting from West Indies’s Kieron Pollard who smashed a 26-ball 62 with five fours and four sixes.

When Pollard came to the crease, Dhaka were in a bit of bother, losing early wickets but as he flicked Farhad Reza to square leg for four in just the third ball he faced, he showed the kind of balance and composure that was required for this kind of pitches. Soon he took on spinner Nazmul Islam, hitting three big sixes in the 13th over as his partnership with skipper Shakib crossed 50. The duo piled on the runs as Dhaka reached 142 for four after 15 overs. Rangpur clawed their way back in to the game with first Pollard and then Shakib’s (36 off 37) wicket off back-to-back overs and Shafiul Islam then bagged three wickets in the last over, finishing with 3 for 35 as Dhaka posted 183 for 9 in 20 overs. Sohag Gazi and Benny Howell bagged two wickets each while Mashrafe bowled economically, giving away 22 in four overs and bagging a wicket in return.