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Khulna Tigers beat Rangpur Riders by 28 runs in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match-9 at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

Mohammad Nabi's valiant half-century wasn't enough to prevent Rangpur from facing another defeat in the BPL. They suffered yet another batting collapse, managing only 132 runs while chasing the 161-run target.

Shanaka picked up a four-fer and punished Rangpur after a poor start to the innings losing the key batter Babar Azam (2) and Brandon King (1) who has been going through a rough patch of time in the tournament.

Shamim Hossain and Rony Talukder stitched a 38-run stand that steadied their innings until Shanaka gave the breakthrough by returning Rony for 15 runs. Shamim departed on 30 in the consecutive over.

Rangpur continued to toil and eventually slumped to 80-7, Shakib al Hasan (2) who came to bat at lower-order also failed in the crease.

Nabi led the side single-handedly and added a crucial 36-run stand with Mahedi Hasan helped the side cross the 100-run mark.

Mahedi fell to Shanaka with a catch to Habibur Rahman Sohan at deep-mid wicket he scored 12 off 8 before his dismissal. Nabi top-scored with a 30-ball 50 featuring four boundaries and three maximums.

Apart from Shakana, Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz each took a double.

Earlier, Nawaz starred with a half-century to help Khulna post 160-6 and Hasan Mahmud was pick of the bowling attack, taking three wickets.

After being invited to bat first, Khulna lost their captain Anamul Haque Bijoy (0) but thanks to Evin Lewis's swashbuckling knock of 37 runs which propelled the side to tackle early set back.

Lewis was consistent and kept scoring runs while the top-order toppled down at regular intervals. The Caribbean nicked Hasan Mahmud to get an edge and departed on 37 off 25.

Then Nawaz and Dasun Shanaka took charge and carried Khulna's innings to a secured position.

Shanaka missed a half-century getting castled by Hasan on 40 runs, he faced 33 balls smashing five boundaries and a six to play the knock. Nawaz scored a crucial 34-ball 55 to help Khulna set a respectable target of 161.

Hasan got three and Mahedi Hasan picked up two wickets each for Rangpur.