Rangpur Riders the second Qualifier of the Bangladesh Premier League 2017

Chris Gayle's nineteenth ton in Twenty20s helped Rangpur Riders trot past Khulna Titans to seal a spot in the second Qualifier of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Friday (December 8). Set 168, Gayle pounded an unbeaten 126 off 51 to close the entryway on Titans and power them out of the competition

Riders got off to a brisk begin graciousness Gayle however were pegged back a bit once Jofra Archer dismissed Sohag Gazi and Brendon McCullum in the third finished to leave the side at 25 for 2. In any case, their happiness didn't keep going long as Gayle went ahead and continued toying the bowling assault to push his side towards a win. 

Gayle got to his 50 years in the seventh over off only 23 balls as he propelled Mohammad Irfan over long-on. He continued to make cheerful and registered his ton off only 45 balls in the fourteenth over. By then, all expectations Titans had been diminished by the Gayle invasion. 

Earlier, customary strikes helped Riders hold Titans within proper limits in the wake of opting to bowl first. There were helpful contributions from the batsmen however none had an effect as they needed to agree to a competitive score.

Michael Klinger (21 off 26), Mahmudullah (20), Ariful Haque (29) and Nicholas Pooran (28) got starts but failed to carry on and put the Riders' bowlers under pressure. It was Carlos Brathwaite who smashed 25 off nine deliveries late in the innings to prop up the score but it proved too little against Gayle's might.

Brief scores: Khulna Titans 167/6 in 20 overs (Ariful Haque 29, Carlos Brathwaite 25*; Lasith Malinga 2-49) lost to Rangpur Riders 171/2 in 15.2 overs (Chris Gayle 126*) by eight wickets.