Riders lay siege to Vikings

Rangpur Riders laid siege to table-toppers Chittagong Vikings' Chattogram base at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium last night in a high-voltage game, thanks to masterful T20 tons from Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw to pick up their fifth win of the tournament as the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL T20) restarted with the Chattogram leg.

Vikings' locals had performed well to get them to the top but came up against a different order of T20 prowess as Rangpur won by 72 runs with their famed top order doing the job.

Abig crowd showed up at Chattogram, unlike a large of matches in the Dhaka legs, and they were entertained to a Hales and Rossouw run fest. So dominant were the duo during their 174-run partnership -- the third-highest partnership in BPL history -- that it did not even matter that Chris Gayle fell for just two and AB de Villiers scored only one. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said at the end that their top order 'can destroy any bowler in a massive way' and that was certainly on show as Hales hit 11 fours and five sixes in a 48-ball 100 while Rossouw, not to be left behind, hit an unbeaten 100 off 51 deliveries with eight fours and six sixes.

Chittagong showed that they had fight in them with Mushfiqur Rahim hitting three sixes in an over off Shafiul Islam. After Mushy's dismissal for an 11-ball 22, it was local talent Yasir Ali who played a brilliant lone hand of 78 off just 48 deliveries. He perished to Mashrafe, who bowled a steady line and length to pick three wickets.

Earlier in the day, Sylhet Sixers, captained by Alok Kapali yesterday,  picked up just their third win in the tournament with a 76-run victory over Rajshahi Kings to give themselves a slim chance of making the playoffs . Sohail Tanvir, who captained the side briefly after David Warner left due to injury, was instrumental in their win, bagging his best figures in the BPL this season. Kapali bagged two as well as Sylhet bowled out Rajshahi for 104 after posting 180 for six.