Mashrafe wins toss, Rangpur opt to bat against Rajshahi Kings

Rangpur Riders captain Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and elected to bat first against Rajshahi Kings in the 9th match of the 5th Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in the capital on Saturday.

Rangpur will look to continue their domination of Rajshahi after winning against them in the first round of the tournament. But after the humbling defeat against Chittagong in their second match, Riders will require the gusto and charisma of their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza to lead them to victoy against Rajshahi.

Rangpur top-order especially Adam Lyth and Johnson Charles need to step up to the plate and make sure they give their team a solid start.

Ravi Bopara would also look to bring international spotlight back on him by continuing his stunning all-round performance so far in the tournament.

Rajshahi, on the other hand, will look for vengeance for the loss in the first round.

With cutter-master Mustafizur Rahman in Kings’ camp, they are steadily gaining momentum. Mushfiqur would like to come into his own with ‘Caribbean Mashrafe’ Darren Sammy as his skipper.

Sammy has had visible effect in Rajshahi camp due to his amazing leadership skills. Rajshahi’s English recruits namely Samit Patel and Luke Wright will enter the field with an intention to produce an impact making performance.

Rangpur Riders T20 Squad:

Chris gayle, Lasith malinga, Brendon Mccullum, Shahriar nafees, Mashrafe Murtaza, Samuel Badri, Ravi Bopara, Shamsur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Elyas Sunny, Kasul Parrera, Zahir Hussain, Ibadat Hussain, Fazle Mahmud

Rajshahi Kings T20 Squad:

Darren Sami, Muhammad Sami, Mushfiqur Rahim, Farhad raza, James Franklin, Luke Wright, Lendl Simmons, Mominul Haque, Samit Patel, Raza Ali Dar, Naeem Aslam, Usama Mir, Zakir Hasan, Hossain Ali.

Source: dailysun