Match 34 of the ongoing Bangladesh T20 League will be a delight for the cricket fans as they will witness an action-packed encounter between Sylhet Thunder and Rajshahi Royals on 4 January. The clash is scheduled to take place in at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Sylhet at 6 PM. It will be an interesting face-off because Rajshahi Royals have been consistent winners in the tournament so far, whereas Sylhet Thunder has given one of the most disappointing performances. Even though the Thunders are no longer part of the race for the playoffs, they would still fancy their chances in the remaining matches.
Rajshahi Royals are brimming with confidence as they have secured the second spot at the points table with 6 compelling victories, 12 points and net run rate (NRR) of +0.286. The Royals have an incredible approach in both the departments of the game and this is reason behind their back-to-back wins. Afif is the top run-scorer with 260 runs from 8 innings, while Liton Das and Shoaib Malik have stockpiled 255 and 254 runs respectively. Captain Andre Russell has provided much-needed strength to the bowling force with 11 scalps from just 8 innings. The spinners Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Nawaz play a prominent role not just in building the run of flows, but also in bagging wickets at multiple occasions.
Sylhet Thunder have constantly failed to overcome their opponents, landing them at the bottom of the pile with only one win, 2 points and NRR of -0.734. In their recent encounter against Rangpur Rangers, the bowlers looked clueless and the techniques of the batting line-up seemed haywire. However, batsmen Mohammad Mithun and Sherfane Rutherford provided some impetus to their innings. But eventually the situation got of the control and they lost. This match will decide if the Thunders are worthy enough to the sustain in the battle.
Their squad consists of Johnson Charles who has scored the most runs for the Thunder with 262 from 9 innings, and can become savior for the team. Their bowling attack is quite strong as Ebadat Hossain and Krishmar Santokie have picked up 11 and 7 wickets for the Thunder respectively.
Pitch Report and Weather Conditions
The Sylhet stadium has is a flat pitch that will provide ease to the batsmen to post big targets and also some assistance to the spinners. The temperature will hover around 23 degree Celsius and will gradually drop to 16 degree Celsius with 10% chances of rain showers.
Head to Head
|
Teams |
Total Matches Played |
Matches Won |
Matches Lost |
|
Sylhet Thunder |
10 |
1 |
9 |
|
Rajshahi Royals |
9 |
6 |
3 |
Probable Playing XI
Sylhet Thunder – Andre Fletcher, Rubel Mia, Johnson Charles, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mosaddek Hossain (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Delwar Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Krishmar Santokie, Ebadot Hossain, Nazmul Islam
Rajshahi Royals – Liton Das (wk), Afif Hossain, Shoaib Malik, Ravi Bopara, Andre Russell (c), Alok Kapali, Irfan Sukkur, Nahidul Islam, Farhad Reza, Mohammad Irfan, Taijul Islam
Key Players
Sylhet Thunder
Andre Fletcher
Johnson Charles
Rajshahi Royals
Afif Hossain
Andre Russell
