West Indies recruit Shimron Hetmyer smashed a 33 ball-63 as Khulna Tigers recovered from a shaky start to rack up 163-6 against Chittagong Kings in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Qualifier-2 game today at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

The Qualifier-2, considered as virtual semi final will determine who will seal the final to take on Fortune Barishal on Friday.

Khulna who won the Eliminator game against Rangpur Riders to move to Qualifier-2 were reduced to 42-4 after being asked to bat first with Chittagong Kings Sri Lankan pacer Binura Fernando running riot on them, moving the admirably in both ways.

He rattled the stump of Khulna Captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 2 to give the opening. He didn’t get any wicket in the first power play but the way he curbed the aggression of Khulna batters, gave other bowlers a platform to go rampaging.

Offspinner Aliss Al Islam got the better of Alex Ross with return catch for duck before pacer Khaled Ahmed, uprooted the stump of Naim Sheikh who made 19. Arafat Sunny then joined the party to take the wicket of Aiff Hossain for 8.

Hetmyer resisted, ably supported by Mahidu Islam Ankon as the duo added 73-run for the fifth wicket. Pacer Shoriful Islam broke through with the wicket of Ankon who made 32 ball-41 with one four and three sixes.

Khulna pinned hopes on Hetmyer to give a whirlwind finish but Fernando denied him, ending his pyrotechnics that laced with six fours and four sixes. Still his knock was instrumental in giving the side a considerable total. 

Fernando eventually finished with 2-27 to be the best bowler for Chittagong. 

MSH

Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim is set to feature for Fortune Barishal in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Mushfiqur had played for Sylhet Strikers in the last edition. His price was fixed at 80 lakhs in the players' draft according to the category. Which means he was in 'A' category.

The top category player will play along with other star players like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed in Fortune Barishal.

Neymar said he was relishing “new challenges and opportunities in new places” after he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal Tuesday, becoming the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state.

The Brazil forward, 31, ends a six-year stay in the French capital and follows in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane in swapping Europe for the Middle East.

“I have achieved a lot in Europe and enjoyed special times, but I have always wanted to be a global player and test myself with new challenges and opportunities in new places,” Neymar said in a statement from the Saudi Pro League.

“I want to write new sporting history, and the Saudi Pro League has tremendous energy and quality players at the moment,” he added.

Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were ongoing.