It may have not been a great tournament for Chittagong Vikings, but they have indeed finished on a good note, with English all-rounder Luis Reece and Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza putting in star performances. While Reece was lesser known before this tournament, Raza has definitely been making a name for himself over the last year or more.
Rajshahi Kings won the toss and elected to field first in a game that would be the last for both franchises this season. It was a dead rubber game, as both were lagging at the bottom of the table and a win for either wouldn’t make a difference to the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League standings.
Reece was promoted to open the innings and he played a brilliant knock of 80(56)*, including 4 fours and 3 sixes. After the solid foundation set by Reece, Sikandar Raza came in and played a fantastic cameo of 42(20)*, including 3 fours and 3 sixes.
His innings gave the Vikings the impetus they needed at the death overs, putting up a competitive total of 194/2 in their 20 overs. They then went out to bowl and got a couple of early wickets. However, Samit Patel played some brilliant hoicks over mid-wicket and raced to 62 in just 26 balls, including 5 sixes.
An all-round performance by Sikandar Raza.#CTGVikings #BPL2017 #ALLin #BPLSeason5 #BPLT20 pic.twitter.com/FkfKpfjzjD
— Chittagong Vikings (@CtgVikings) December 5, 2017
Raza ended with magical figures of 4/16, but it was Reece who won the Man of the Match award. Had I been on the panel, I would’ve made sure both these men shared the award. Even after this win, the Vikings finish with 7 points and will end the season at the bottom of the table. Rajshahi, on the other hand, finish with 8 points and second last on the BPL 2017 points table.
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