Tector, Burl help Sylhet register much-needed win over Khulna

Ryan Burl smashed three sixes and a four off Rubel Hossain in the penultimate over to power Sylhet Strikers to their third victory in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Friday. 

Khulna Tigers, led by Anamul Haque, slumped to their third straight defeat and dropped down to number four in the points table. They squandered early upper hands on two occasions due to below-par death bowling.

Rubel, playing his first T20 after almost a year, went for 24 as the left-handed Burl took a particular liking to his bowling. All of his boundaries came in that over.

Harry Tector anchored the chase with 61 off 52 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes. The Irish right-hander had good partnerships with Najmul Hossain Shanto (18 off 16) and captain Mohammad Mithun (24 off 19).

Caribbean off-spinner Mark Deyal picked up three wickets for 19 runs but his effort was not enough.

Tector was named the player of the match. It was his first fifty-plus score in this year's BPL.

Anamul rued Khulna's inaccurate bowling towards the end of the innings.

"Disappointed with the bowling, Sohan batted very well, as a batting group we scored 153 which was not bad but we did not execute with the ball. [on Deyal] He bowled very well today, he took 3 wickets. Had the other bowlers bowled accurately, it would have been good for us," said the top-order batter.

Habibur Rahman Sohan and Anamul smashed the ball around the park at the death to power Khulna to 153-3 after 20 overs overcoming a rather slowish first three-fourth of the innings. 

Afif Hossain (24 off 16) hit three fours and a six to give them a fairly decent start but they were reduced to 54 for three in the ninth over.

Anamul found it tough towards the start but got going towards the end of the innings. Habibur, who has already made a name for himself as a decent ball-striker, made a substantial contribution for the first time in the tournament. 

The Khulna skipper struck five fours and two maximums in his unbeaten 67 off 58. Habibur (43* off 30) was the more aggressive of the two, hitting three fours and as many sixes. Together they added 99 off 11.1 overs.

The spin-bowling duo of Sunzamul Islam and Samit Patel slowed things down, giving away 38 off eight overs. 

Left-arm spinner Sunzamul, who was a mid-season inclusion into the Sylhet side, returned 4-0-16-1.