Roussow and Hales power BPL record

There was no Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers at the centre of action, but Rangpur Riders made and broke a few Bangladesh Premeir League (BPL) records on the back of Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw's twin tons to post the tournament's highest ever total of 239 for four during a 72-run win over Chittagong Vikings at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chattogram yesterday.

Chasing the huge target, Yasir Ali fought alone to score 78 as Chittagong  ended up on 167 for eight. Their second defeat in eight games snapped a five-match winning streak. Rangpur, on the other hand, clinched their fifth win in nine games.

It was the first time in the history of the BPL and the third in all T20 cricket that two hundreds were scored in the same innings, and the tons were the bedrock of the total that surpassed the previous highest of Dhaka Gladiators' 217 for four against Rangpur back in 2013.

On arguably the best batting wickets in the country, the day's first game produced a sizeable total as well, but it also contained Rajshahi Kings' limp surrender to 104 all out in chase of Sylhet Sixers' 180 for six.

In the night match, Hales scored 100 off 48 balls which included eleven fours and five sixes while Rossouw remained unbeaten on 100 off 51 balls with six sixes and eight fours.

Sent in to bat first, Rangpur lost West Indian hitter Gayle for just two and since then it was the Hales and Rossouw show. The duo started to punish the Chittagong bowlers and added 174 runs for the second wicket, which is also the third highest partnership in the BPL for any wicket.

Another Rangpur sensation in de Villiers also missed out yesterday, dismissed after scoring just one.

In the afternoon game, Sylhet rode on Jason Roy's 28-ball 42 to set up the challenging total as well as an all-round contribution from Sohail Tanvir.

After the defeat, Rajshahi remained in fifth position with four wins from nine games while Sylhet have registered their third win in nine games to stay at number six in the seven-team table.