Robiul Haque set the tone for Rangpur Riders being finished with his career best bowling in the T20s then Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Shamim shared a pivotal 33-run in the sixth wicket stand that aided them to script a four-wicket win over Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram on Friday.

 Robiul scalped 4-22 while Azmatullah Umarazai, Rakibul Hasan and Hasan Murad picked up two wickets each to all-out Khulna on a paltry 130 in 19.4 overs.

With Shoaib Malik making a 36-ball 44 and Shamim standing on 16 off 10 balls, Rangpur reached at 131-6 with three balls to spare.  

 Azam Khan who hit the first hundred in this version of BPL concluded with a 23-ball 34 as the highest run getter for the side while his other fellow teammates failed to go beyond the threshold of 30.

 Sent to bat, Khulna lost their veteran opener Tamim Iqbal for 1 inside the second over that appeared as a massive blow for the side, who are yet to seal a victory in their three games in the ongoing edition of the competition.

 Following the departure of Tamim, Sharjeel Khan and Habibur Rahman Sohan were also dismissed for a frustrating 12 and 4 run respectively that shortened the side to 18-3 within the power play.

 Then, skipper Yasir Ali Chowdhury and Azam Khan shared a 42-ball 58 stand in the fourth wicket followed by a windy 19-ball 32 run partnership in the eight wicket stand to post a small total before they were bowled out.

 Pursuing a humble 131 Rangpur landed the shore of the victory banking on Shoaib Malik’s 44, Mohammad Naim’s 21 and Shamim’s 16.