-- New -- Wright-Shakib stand wins it for Dhaka

ridoy24 Wed Jan 23, 2013 9:51 am

Wright-Shakib stand wins it for Dhaka

Dhaka Gladiators 156 for 8 (Wright 51, Ali 3-19) beat Duronto Rajshahi 143 for 3 (Tamim 57, Shakib 1-18) by 13 runs

Luke Wright and Shakib Al Hasan's aggressive partnership at the top of the order was enough to take Dhaka Gladiators to their third successive win as they beat Duronto Rajshahi by 13 runs. They would have liked to have done the job in front of a bigger audience than the poor crowd that turned up at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.

Shakib also contributed with a tight spell with his left-arm spin and crucially, bowled a tight penultimate over, keping the ball out of the reach of Simon Katich and Ziaur Rahman. He gave away just seven runs when Rajshahi needed 32 off 12 balls, ensuring there was no last-over drama.

The two Rajshahi batsmen at the end couldn't capitalise on the base set up by Tamim Iqbal, who made 57 off 41 balls. The left-hander had struck four boundaries and two sixes, but with 70 needed, he was caught behind off Shakib. Mosharraf Hossain and Kaushal Lokuarachchi took one wicket each while Alfonso Thomas, after joining Gladiators on Monday, bowled four excellent overs (though he went wicketless).

The Dhaka side also gave away a good start provided by Wright and Shakib. The pair added 79 for the second wicket. Wright made 51 off 37 balls with a six and eight fours while Shakib struck five fours and a six in his 21-ball 37. They took 16 each from the sixth and seventh over, bowled by Ben Edmondson and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam. The pace at which they put up the stand - just 39 balls - made sure they had nine overs for their batsmen to aim for a big total . They took the score from 26 for 1 after five overs to 101-2 in the 11th over when Wright got out.

But by the time both got out, the rest of the Dhaka batsmen were caught trying to clear the boundary and they petered to 156 for 8 in 20 overs, adding just 55 runs in the last nine overs and losing six wickets.

Moeen Ali's got three wickets with his part-time offspin while left-arm spinner Monir Hossain was the new-ball star picking up two for 22. Edmondson and Katich gave away 54 runs from their combined four overs as they struggled to understand the conditions.