Another closely-fought match in the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) in the first of Sunday’s double-header of fixtures saw Victoria overcome Rangpur Riders by a margin of 10 runs at Providence.
After losing their first match, the Riders were looking to get their points tally moving, but they came up against a slick-looking Australian outfit who were full of confidence after their own winning start to the tournament.
Nural Hasan won the toss for Riders and elected to field first; he may well have been regretting the decision when glancing at the scoreboard in the ninth over and seeing the opposition cruising at 70-0 with both Victoria openers timing the ball and finding the gaps.
Blake McDonald was the first to fall for a well-made 40 off 29 deliveries and the old adage of ‘one bringing two’ saw fellow opener Joe Clarke succumb in the next over for 32. Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain were the pick of the bowlers for Riders and after the strong start regular wickets saw Victoria pegged back. A score of 151-6 meant that Riders were still in the game if they could build some partnerships of their own with the bat.
Soumya Sarkar was the glue that held the Riders chase together; the Bangladeshi southpaw struck an impressive half-century, for 51 off 42 deliveries from the top of the order but when he fell as one of Player of the Match Callum Stow’s three wickets, the Riders had it all to do at 108-4 with a little over five overs left.
