WINDIES star Chris Gayle blasted a quick-fire 38 from 27 to lead Rangpur Riders into the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) playoffs following a 19-run win over Carlos Brathwaite’s third-placed Khulna Titans at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.

Batting in his usual spot in a re-tooled line-up the big West Indian slammed four boundaries and two big sixes. The batting shuffle did not necessarily pay off for Rangpur, however, as Ziaur Rahman was quickly out for eight. Brendon McCullum added a quick 15 runs after joining Gayle, but Rangpur failed to build upon a promising start.

Shaiful Islam and Mohammad Irfan brought the Khulna side back into the game, however, as they dismissed McCullum and Gayle respectively and Rangpur floundered in the middle overs. Mohammad Mithun recovered the innings for Rangpur but was dropped twice as he pushed the team to 147-6 with a well-paced 50 off 35 balls with two fours and four sixes.
Titan openers Nazmul Hossain Shanto(20) and Michael Klinger (44) gave their team the ideal start as they put together a 60-run partnership and it looked like Khulna were running away with the match.

The team found their run chase ground to a halt when Nazmul fell prey to his namesake, Nazmul Islam’s bowling in the eighth over. His dismissal started a landslide for the batting order of the Khulna side that had no end.