Khulna Tigers claim victory over Sylhet Sunrisers

Khulna Tigers defeated Sylhet Sunrisers by 15 runs at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Monday. There was a moment of a scare for Khulna after that hat-trick of sixes in the last over, but Kamrul Islam did well to restrict the batters on the next three balls.

Soumya Sarkar was named the Player of the Match for his brilliant all-round performance. He remained unbeaten for 82 off 62 balls. In this process, he hit four boundaries and four maximums. With the ball, he picked up two wickets conceding 27 runs. 

Khulna skipper Mushfiqur Rahim said, "I thought the bowlers restricted the opposition, that was a great effort. There have been a few dropped catches by us, but I am proud of the boys."

It was the fifth loss of the season for Sylhet who are struggling big time, and getting into the playoffs seems like a distant dream for them at the moment.

Sylhet captain Ravi Bopara said, “Disappointed to lose. We bowled well, for me that was a 200 wicket. I thought we never got going. If you look at it, we needed 36 runs in the last over. The debutant bowled with some good pace and skill. It was a good wicket. We got early wickets, but nothing much after that. We got to get some wins on the board, but we haven't.”

Earlier, Sylhet won the toss and invited Khulna to bat first. Khulna posted 182 runs after losing only three wickets.

But it wasn’t easy. They two wickets in the first over and three inside the powerplay. Soumya dropped anchor and had the company of his skipper Mushfiqur. The pair added 136 for the fourth wicket and got to their respective fifties.