|| CF Correspondent ||

Cumilla Warriors captain Dasun Shanaka ignited the first day of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) with a sublime batting show which scythed down the Rangpur Rangers bowlers and scripted his side’s 105-run victory in their opening game on Wednesday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium

Shanaka hammered a 31 ball-75 not out, smashing three fours and nine towering sixes, much to the mental breakdown of Rangpur side and such was impact that they even could put up any fight eventually.

As Rangpur looked to restrict Cumilla to a low total, Shanaka came up with his ruthless best, especially in the last two overs, that eventually gave his side to a respectable total of 173-7.

Rangpur fumbled in batting too and finally was skittled out for paltry 68 in just 14 overs. It seemed Shanaka’s marauding batting put an adverse impact at least in psychologically.

Shanaka who struck three fours and nine towering sixes in his sublime knock helped the side recover from a shaky 89-6 to post a fighting total.

His bowler, led by Al-Amin Hossain then tore apart Rangpur batsmen to compliment his effort.

Al-Amin Hossain claimed 3-14 while Soumya Sarkar and Sunjamul Islam bagged two wickets apiece to give the side a big victory in their opening game.

Cumill won the toss and elected to bat first but Rangpur captain Mohammad Nabi forced them to make a horrendous start by removing opener Yasir Ali in the first ball. Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Soumya Sarkar seemed to recover the early jolt by adding 41-run after which off-spinner Sanjit Saha and pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman jointly triggered the collapse to leave Cumilla at 89-6 in 14th over.

As Cumilla headed towards a low score, Shanaka suddenly changed the momentum with his attacking approach.

As he was at his ruthless best, Cumilla amassed 51 runs in the last two overs, with Shanaka himself making 46 runs at this point. Seven of his nine sixes came at this juncture as he struck Mustafizur four sixes and Junaid Khan three sixes.

Mustafizur who conceded just six runs in his first two overs to claim two wickets finished with 4-0-37-2 eventually. The Fizz, as he is adorably called, conceded 25 runs in his last over when Shanaka made him ordinary bowler.