About the Match
Rajshahi Kings suffered a humiliating defeat against Dynamites recently when they lost the match by 99 runs; they have slipped down to 6th position with 8 points, and will take on Chittagong Vikings, who are placed at the bottom with only 5 points, at Dhaka on 5th December. The Vikings also lost their contest against Sylhet Sixers by 10 wickets and are out of the race this season; it needs to be seen if they can redeem themselves with a face-saving win here on Tuesday in their last outing.
Chasing 206 against Dynamites proved to be an uphill climb for the batsmen as the top-order collapsed like a pack of cards, except for Mominu Haque’s modest 19 runs. All-rounder Samit Patel was the top-scorer with 28 runs, but they staggered and fell all-out at 106 in reply. Mehidy Hasan was the most economical as he took a wicket and gave around 6 runs per over; Mohammad Sami also impressed with his pace skills as he took one wicket, but others proved to be expensive.
When they met Vikings recently, they won the match by 33 runs after defending 157 runs successfully thanks to a 4-wicket haul by fast-bowler Qazi Onik.
Mustafizur Rahman contributed with 2-18 while Usama Mir and Mohammad Sami claimed one wicket each to stifle the opponents. Darren Sammy top-scored with 40 off 25 while Franklin and Mushfiqur Rahim scored 30+ runs each. Luke Wright and Zakir Hasan built a 30-run partnership at the top, and the captain’s knock took them to 157 runs.
Overall, the Kings have had a mixed run, but they could use their resources cleverly to make a comeback.
Batting first against Sylhet Sixers, they were all-out for 67 runs with no contributions from players like Soumya Sarkar, Sikandar Raza and Luke Ronchi in the to-order. The bowlers were outwitted as the score was not enough to fight with, and they lost the match by 10 wickets. The team is down on morale and they will need to pull up their socks if they want to put up a decent fight here against Kings.
The batsmen also had failed to chase down 158 runs against Rajshahi Kings; Anamul Haque and Stiaan van Zyl tried to revive the innings with their 20+ runs each but with no steady partnerships they lost the match by 33 runs. Earlier, bowlers Sunzamul Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Taskin Ahmed contained the opponents by taking a wicket each while pacer Luis Reece claimed 3-33 to restrict Kings to 157.
The Vikings have put up a dismal show throughout the series, and when they come out to play their last game on Tuesday, the players could try to earn redemption with a better performance.
Rajshahi Kings are a stronger team than Vikings, going by their performances in the last few games and although we could see both teams putting up a good fight, we feel that the Kings are better placed to win