Rangpur Riders and Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza ripped through the Comilla Victorians top order with a magical spell of 4-11 to earn today’s Turbo Bowler award, writes ANITHA MADIKIZELA.
Fresh from winning by a landslide in a recent Bangladeshi parliamentary election, Mortaza put the politics behind him to lead the Rangpur Riders to a commanding nine-wicket victory over the Steve Smith-lead Comilla Victorians in Dhaka.
After winning the toss and inserting the Victorians to bat first, captain Mortaza took charge with the ball as he opened the bowling and quickly ripped through the opposition’s top order.
READ MORE: I won’t be distracted by politics – Mortaza
Mortaza accounted for the ever-dangerous Tamim Iqbal for just four runs, before striking twice in his second over with the dismissals of Evin Lewis and Imrul Kayes for eight and two runs respectively.
He added the cherry on the cake in his final over with the wicket of Victorians’ captain – the banned former Australian skipper Steve Smith – for a duck to account for all of the top four opposition batsmen.
Another top performance from @RangpurRiders_ , just can’t keep @MasrafeOfficial out of any contest! #ClassAct #BPL2019
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) January 8, 2019
Mortaza’s figures of 4-11 in four overs are now his best bowling figures in T20 cricket, eclipsing his previous best of 4-19 against Ireland in Belfast in 2012.
Today’s win over the Victorians takes the Riders to third on the league table and they’ll hope to continue the winning run when they take on the Dhaka Dynamites on Friday.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza registered his best T20 bowling figure of 4/11 against @ComillaV ? #BPL2019 https://t.co/lNe3McJO1P
— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) January 8, 2019
Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images
