The first eliminator between Khulna and Rangpur has been concluded as the latter thumped the former, thanks to an unbelievable century from Gayle.  Rangpur won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Shere Bangla Stadium. Nazmul Shanto and Michael Klinger opened the innings for the Titans and couldn’t do much, with Shanto losing his wicket for 15 runs after 16 balls.

Arif Hossain came in next and troubled the scorers for only a few minutes as he got out for 11 from 9 balls. After that, Mahmudulla came in like a man on a vengeance mission and slayed the ball all over the park.

He, however, like Hossain, didn’t trouble the scorers for long and lasted only 6 balls, scoring a quick-fire 20 runs in the process. Michael Klinger held on for a while, but was too slow and finally departed for 21 from 26 balls. Ariful Haque played a decent albeit slow innings of 29 from 30 balls. 

However, the duo of Nicholas Pooran and Carlos Brathwaite came in and smashed their way to help Khulna reach 167. Braithwaite, in particular, slogged his way to an astonishing 25 from just 9 balls and gave Khulna the much needed boost in the end. 

Lasith Malinga, meanwhile, took the most wickets for Rangpur, but was very expensive as he gave away 49 runs in his 4 overs. All the other bowlers, apart from Mashrafe, took one wicket each to restrict the Titans to 167. 

After the break, Rangpur came to bat, but didn't go with their usual opening pair of Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum. Instead, they opted to open with the pair of the West Indian and Sohag Gazi. However, it didn't seem to work as Sohag Gazi perished for just a single. McCullum came in and didn't trouble the scorers at all as he got out for a duck. 

And then it happened: the king awoke from the slumber, he wasn't somnolent anymore. 

Back foot, thwack. Front foot, thwack. Left, right, centre... the balls flew around like birds trying to relocate after the season changes. It was beautiful to watch for the neutrals and the Rangpur fans, but not so much for the Titans' fans. 

Gayle just stood and wielded his bat around like the thunder of Indra and reigned over the mere mortals. The Gayle storm flooded the Titans as they drowned in it like mere insects. 

It was about time. - long overdue, in fact - that someone scored a century in this year's Bangladesh Premier League and it came from the bat of the greatest T20 player of all time.

I will take a moment to credit Mithun for playing a decent support role for Gayle, scoring 30 from 36. When your partnering is batting like that, the best thing to do would be to take a single and stay off strike - and that is what he did. 

The sorry state of the Khulna bowlers brings in some hesitation to write about them, but Jofra Chioke Archer got 2 wickets after conceding 30 runs. 

With this win, the Riders have another shot at reaching the final while the Titans are out of the tournament.