‌BPL 2024 | Babar Azam and Azmatullah Omarzai rescue Riders to an emphatic triumph in Dhaka.

01/23/2024

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In a low-scoring encounter at the Sher E Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, both sides suffered early stutters. Although a 68-run sixth wicket stand helped Sylhet post 120 runs, Babar Azam and Azmatullah Omarzai stabilised the chase and denied further hiccups to seal the deal for the Riders.

A Shakib-less Rangpur Riders won the toss and sent the Sylhet Strikers to bat first. Although Najmul Hossain Shanto produced an elegant boundary off the second ball, Mahedi Hasan drew early blood from the other end after dismissing Mohammad Mithun in the second over. Mashrafe Mortaza, who came to bat at no. 3 found himself stuck in a schoolboyish run-out inside the powerplay. Subsequently, Yasir Ali tried to counter the opposition by smashing two back-to-back boundaries at the start of the fifth over but failed to extend the assault as Mahedi Hasan outfoxed him at the brink of powerplay. The struggle continued for the batters as Zakir Hasan and Shanto followed suit post-field restrictions. With the scoreboard reading 39/5 after 8.2 overs, Benny Howell and Ben Cutting notched up 37 runs each and added 68 runs together to help the Strikers reach 120/7 at the end of 20 overs.

The Riders got a similar start as that of their counterparts and lost six of their top seven batters for single digits. Richard Ngarava, Nazmul Islam, and Tanzid Hasan Sakib struck early with the ball with Dushan Hemantha wreaked havoc in the middle order. They were reeling at 39/6 when Babar Azam and Azmatullah Omarzai, the last recognized pair of Riders stood up. The pair eased off the pressure with the former playing his natural strokes and the latter playing second fiddle. Right after the halfway mark, Omarzai switched gears and charged the bowlers during the slog overs to quickly overhaul the chase with ten balls to spare.

King Babar!👑

King 👑 babar azam match winner for his team #bpl #king #babar 👑 pic.twitter.com/8D0r3E82Lk
— Abdullah Majid (@Abdulla89043284) January 23, 2024

Yaar ehh kitthii awesome hi yaar!

There is no one as handsome as Babar Azam in the whole world.#BabarAzam𓃵 #BPL #BPL2024 pic.twitter.com/gVEB9ekMZT
— khanshoaib251 (@shoaibatp) January 23, 2024

King karliya bhai!

King 👑 karta hai tou log bolte hain king kar le ga #BabarAzam𓃵 #BPL #BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/4ZqlwEGBTk
— Afzaal Ahmad (@afzaalghumman) January 23, 2024

King for a reason!

Jaty hii chaa gya hamara shahzada 🥹🫶🫀

50 in BPL 🔥👏 (MASHALLAH)#BabarAzam𓃵 #BPL2024 #ShoaibMalikMarriage pic.twitter.com/sSFPfQufrp
— Alishba Ch (@Alishba76006564) January 23, 2024

KING BABAR 👑

Babar Azam be like main hun aur mere sath bhi main hun.#BPL #BPL2024 #BPL24 #BabarAzam𓃵 pic.twitter.com/5wMP8TTkWV
— CriCkeT-ManiA (@Iamsohail60) January 23, 2024

What a knock much needed!

Babar Azam reaches fifty in his first BPL match off 45 balls 🔥 #BPL2024 #BabarAzam𓃵 pic.twitter.com/pYkcVXrRAT
— Akash Rajput 𝕏 (@imARajput66) January 23, 2024

He deserves all the hearts now!

First match in BPL and King Babar Azam played a match winning knock ❤️👑😍#BabarAzam #BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/QboT3a8JVv
— Waseem (@IWaseemP) January 23, 2024

As usual!