Sabbir, Nawaz star as Sixers knock Khulna out of the tournament

Sylhet Sixers carried on with the momentum gained yesterday to pick up their second win in as many games, defeating Khulna Titans by 58 runs, a defeat that left the Mahmudullah Riyad-led side out of contention for the top-four spot.

Sylhet, led by Alok Kapali, surprisingly handed the captaincy yesterday, started brightly with Liton Das and Afif Hossain. The former took the bowlers on and was matched by Afif as well. The pair put on 71 for the first wicket before Liton was dismissed after a 22-ball 34. Jason Roy came and went, becoming Taijul Islam's second victim before Afif missed out on a fifty, falling to Taijul as well after a 37-ball 49, laced with five fours and two sixes. Nicholas Pooran did not make much of an impact as it looked like Sylhet will have to defend a moderate 150 plus total but the Sabbir Rahman (44 off 29) and Mohammad Nawaz (39 off 21) came up with a 89-run fifth-wicket stand. The runs flowed in quick time in the death overs -- 76 scored off the last five overs --as Sylhet posted 194 runs on the board.

Brendon Taylor gave Rajshahi a flying start with his 23-ball 34 but as has so often happened this season, the Sylhet top-order that consists of the likes of Mahmudullah, Junaid Siddique, Al Amin and Nazmul Hossain, flailed again. Ariful Haque played some good looking shots but fell out bowled to Nabil Samad to become the bowler's third victim of the match. In the end the target was too big as Khulna were knocked out of the tournament.

Scores in brief:

Sylhet Sixers: 195 for four in 20 overs (Liton 34, Afif 49, Sabbir 44 not out, Nawaz 39 not out; Taijul 3-30)

Khulna Titans: 137 all out in 18.1 overs (Taylor 34, Junaid 20, Ariful 24; Nabil 3-20, Taskin 2-6)

Result: Sylhet Sixers won by 58 runs