Fortune Barishal kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the BPL final after they crushed Chattogram Challengers by seven wickets in the Eliminator match in Mirpur on Monday.

Kyle Mayers starred for Barishal with an all-round show, taking two wickets before hitting a rapid half-century.

Barishal lost Soumya Sarkar in the first over of their 136-run chase but Tamim Iqbal and No. 3 Mayers quickly hit back. Tamim struck Al-Amin Hossain for three fours in the second over before Mayers joined in with his first six in the third over. Mayers then blasted Shuvagata Hom for 26 runs in the fifth over, hitting three sixes and two fours.

Mayers got out soon after reaching 50, caught behind off Bilal Khan, having faced 26 balls. He struck five sixes and three fours. Tamim kept the chase on track with his unbeaten 52 off 43 balls, including nine fours as Barishal won with 5.1 overs to spare. Barishal's newcomer David Miller didn't force the issue, hitting 17 off 13 balls before falling for a simple catch to deep midwicket. Mushfiqur Rahim was there with Tamim to complete the chase.

Chattogram earlier had banked heavily on their in-form opener Tanzid Hasan. But he fell in the second over. Saifuddin got the big wicket when he had the left-hander caught behind. Tanzid's opening partner Josh Brown briefly attacked, hitting three sixes and two fours, before holing out at point to Miller. Brown made 34 off 22 balls.

Shuvagata's 24 off 16 balls took Chattogram past the 100 mark, as the Barishal bowlers grabbed the game firmly for the rest of the innings. Mayers, Saifuddin and Obed McCoy took two wickets each while Taijul Islam and James Fuller picked up one wicket respectively.

West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd starred with bat and ball but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Chattogram Challengers form going down by 18 runs to the Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Friday.

After winning the toss and batting first at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Shakib Al Hasan led the way with 62 as the Riders posted 187-8 from their 20 overs.

Mahedi Hasan also chipped in with 34 and Rony Talukdar hit 25. Shepherd was the pick of the Chattogram bowlers with 3-27 from his four overs while Salauddin Sakil and Shohidul Islam both took a pair of wickets, each.

Shepherd then hit four five fours and six sixes on his way to a top score of 66 not out off 30 balls but it wasn’t enough as the Challengers finished their innings 169-6.

Tom Bruce and Captain Shuvagata Hom supported Shepherd with 24 and 21, respectively, against an excellent 3-14 off four overs from South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius.

Mahedi Hasan completed a fine all-round performance with 2-17 from his four overs.

Forty-eight hours after Andre Fletcher scored an unbeaten 101 to get Khulna Tigers into the playoffs of the Bangladesh Premier League, his unbeaten 80 was not enough to prevent them from getting knocked out, as they lost by seven runs to Chattogram Challengers.

Needing 16 from the final over bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz in pursuit of 190, Khulna Tigers only managed to eight runs. Miraz bowled a yorker-filled over that yielded a boundary by Fletcher and four singles before taking the wicket of Thisara Perera for three with the last ball of the match.

The Grenadian, who hit six fours and four sixes in his 58-ball knock that threatened to lead his side to another remarkable victory, got support from Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 43 from 29 balls. Together they put on 64 for the third wicket that took the score from 43-2 after Mahedi Hasan and Soumya Sarkar were dismissed for, two and one, respectively.

Fletcher and Yasir Ali then put together a stand of 65 for the fourth wicket. Yasir hit two fours and four sixes in his 24-ball 45 that took Khulna Tigers within touching distance of the target with nine balls remaining.

Miraz finished with 2-40.

Earlier, it was Chadwick Walton’s unbeaten 89 that helped Chattogram Challengers to their score of 189-5.

The Jamaican hit seven fours and seven sixes in his 44-ball knock that rescued Chattogram Challengers from a precarious 65-4 in the 10^th over. Other useful contributions came from Walton’s compatriot Kennar Lewis, who opened the batting with an uncharacteristically sedate 39 from 32 balls.

Miraz scored 36 from 30 late in the innings that helped Walton take Chattogram Challengers to their winning score.