Rangpur crowned NCL T20 champions

Rangpur Division emerged as champions in the National Cricket League (NCL) T20, handing Dhaka Metro a five-wicket defeat in a low-scoring final at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.

Rangpur pacers Mukidul Islam Mugdho and Alauddin Babu ran through the opposition, finishing with identical figures of 3-12 as Metro were bundled out for a 62 in 16.3 overs – the lowest total in the tournament.

Mugdho and Babu made full use of the winter conditions and swung the new ball in their opening burst in the Powerplay, in which the former claimed three wickets and the latter took two to leave Metro five down for just 16 inside five overs.

The innings never recovered from that initial collapse. Shamsur Rahman (14 off 28 balls) and Abu Hider Rony (13 off nine) were the only batters to get into double figures but their contributions could not add any respectability to the total.

Chasing a meagre target, Rangpur too were staring at abyss, losing four wickets for just 14 runs on the board after 4.4 overs.

But Ariful Haque and Anamul Haque Aman made 14 each, with the latter remaining not out, to take Rangpur over the line.

Earlier, Metro had emerged at the top of the table after the league phase as the only undefeated team while Rangpur had finished second.

Rangpur were the first to book a place in the final by beating Metro by four wickets in the first qualifier.

Metro then beat Khulna by 38 runs in the second qualifier to set up a rematch but again fell short against the Akbar Ali-led side in the final.