Usman’s century wins battle against Azam’s ton as Ctg crush Khulna
Usman khan celebrates his maiden century
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Khulna Tigers Azam Khan hit his maiden Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and this edition’s first century against Chattagram Challengers in Mirpur on Monday but could not taste victory as Chattogram’s Usman khan replied with another century to thrash Khulna by nine wickets.
Usman is the third Pakistani player to smash a century, who have scored 103 off 58 balls.
Azam, the son of former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan, demonstrated his father's ingenuity by dragging one from the offside for six square on the leg side as he hit nine fours and eight sixes in a 58-ball 109.
Khulna overcame a slow start in the Powerplay, scoring 39 runs for two wickets thanks to his acceleration.
Tamim Iqbal, who struggled early on, pushed a few boundaries to accelerate while being dropped twice. Tamim finished with a 37-ball 40 after the two put on a 92-run third-wicket stand off 62 deliveries.
Skipper Yasir Ali was castled by pacer Ziaur Rahman before Khulna innings got wings with Azam's strokeplay, finishing with 178 for five.
Usman Khan's innings took a completely different approach, with the batter content to keep slashing with a few whacks in front of square during his knock.
Usman, who has only played two first-class games and seven T20s, had only one fifty in T20s prior to this knock.
During a 141-run opening stand, he and Max O'Dowd started solidly but quickly picked up the scoring rate to good effect.
Max left with 58 from 50 deliveries but Usman made sure there were no hiccups.
Nahidul Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nasum Ahmed, and Paul Van Meekeren of Khulna all struggled, and while Wahab Riaz had kept things quiet, Usman hit a six through backward square-leg.
The Pakistani batter latched onto Saifuddin's attempted wide yorker and hit it over deep point for his century off 56 deliveries.
He finished the chase for Chattogram with nine wickets and four deliveries to spare, remaining unbeaten on 102 off 57 deliveries, covered with 10 fours and five sixes.
