A cracker of a start

Prior to the tournament, Misbahul Haq who was a late buy for the Rangpur Riders said that he had decided to take part in the Bangladesh Premier League in order to 'stay motivated' for his future matches.

It was a statement that, in a way, cushioned the news of his arrival in the competition. Here was a 41-year-old signing up for a T20 tournament just because he didn't have many international fixtures lined up ahead; in short, it didn't really depict a very competitive mindset.

However, that notion was torn apart once the Pakistan batsman, who played his last T20I in 2012, played a calm but exciting 39-ball 61 to take the Rangpur Riders home in a thriller of a match against Chittagong Vikings in Mirpur yesterday.

Chasing 188, Rangpur bounced back from a precarious 29 for 4 in five overs and went on to smash 91 runs in the last six overs to snatch a memorable victory from the hands of Tamim Iqbal and co.

Truth be told, one couldn't have asked for a better beginning to the third season of the competition. What made the match even better was that Misbah, despite all his elegance and power, had met his match in Mohammad Amir, who finished with 4 for 20 in his four overs.

Rangpur looked down and out after the first five overs. Lendl Simmons could barely penetrate the field while Soumya Sarkar lost his wicket attempting to hit one too many. A rusty Shakib Al Hasan, who had arrived in Dhaka just the day before, was guilty of attempting to cut the ball too often and eventually nicked one.

That's when Mohammad Al-Amin, a 22-year-old all-rounder who has done well in the domestic circuit this year, joined Misbah in the middle and began stitching up a partnership. Al-Amin, initially seemed the more dominant partner, reverse-sweeping and going down the track almost at will. He hit one six and three fours and got out after sharing a crucial 64-run stand with Misbah.

After his dismissal, Misbah, who was joined by Thisara Perera, started to unleash his true self. With 91 runs required off six overs, he smacked Amir for three boundaries in the 15th over. The next over saw Taskin Ahmed got hit for two sixes, first by Misbah and then by Perera.

By then both the batters had understood exactly how good the wicket was and they began smacking those boundaries almost at will; nobody was spared. Shafiul was hit for 16, Ziaur went for 21 and Tamim Iqbal didn't seem to know what to do.

The plot thickened however once Amir was brought back in the penultimate over with Rangpur requiring 22 runs. He first removed Perera with a slower bouncer and then bowled a brilliant yorker to beat Misbah all ends up.

14 runs required of the last six balls and it came down to a battle between Darren Sammy and Shafiul Islam. Sammy was run-out after smashing 13 off the first five, after which Saqlain Sajib scampered for the winning run in the last ball.

Earlier, the Vikings had received a brilliant start with Tamim and Tillakaratne Dilshan putting on 52 in 4.2 overs. Tamim was the highest run-getter scoring 51 off 32 balls. They had raced to 103 for 1 after 10 overs but fell short by a few runs, managing to score just 84 in the last ten.