Hosts lose but Zia shows intent

Chattogram Challengers lost the first match as hosts against Shakib Al Hasan’s Fortune Barishal, but challengers’ all-rounder Ziaur Rahman showed impact while chasing Barishal’s 202 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Friday.

Zia scored 47 off just 25 balls hitting three fours and four sixes in the process. He was also good with the ball as he brought up an important breakthrough in the 13th over to still keep his side in a fighting position.

After Challengers’ skipper Shuvagata Hom sent Barishal to bat first winning the toss, Shakib’s team started their innings in an aggressive style when Mehedy Hasan Miraz, who was sent to open with Anamul Haque, started to hit the ball all around the field. Thanks to his super-fast 24 off just 12 balls, Barishal got a good start which Iftikhar Ahmed finished in style to get a total of 202 runs in the board for the hosts to chase.

Coming to chase the gigantic target, Challengers started their innings aggressively as they put 57 runs in the in the board losing only one wicket by the end of power play. Things were looking good till their opener Max ODowd got out.

When Zia came to bat, his team had already been pushed to the backfoot as they were 88-2 in the 13th over. They still needed 114 runs from 46 balls.

Seeing the probability a victory going down, Zia started wreaking a havoc on the opposition bowlers with a six down the ground on Karim Janat’s Slower.

Facing Khaled Ahmed in the 18th over, the all-rounder hit two sixes and a four to take it to 149 with 19 runs in the over. In the next over, he thumped the ball over the boundary once again as they managed 18 runs from those six balls.

However, Zia’s stunning innings couldn’t take them to chase down the target as Challengers fell 26 runs short and Barishal registered their second win of the tournament to move up to the second spot in the points table.