Litton, Shakib victorious, Towhid suffers defeat

Litton Das hit a match-winning half-century for Surrey Jaguars in the Global Twenty20 Canada, Shakib Al Hasan shone with the bat and ball for Galle Titans in the Lankan Premier League (LPL) while Towhid Hridoy had an off day for Jaffna Kings in an action-packed Tuesday for Bangladeshi cricketers in franchise leagues overseas.

After scores of nine, 21 and 25, Litton finally found his groove in Canada, scoring 59 off 45 balls to help Surrey defeat Brampton Wolves by six wickets. Brampton was bundled out for just 128 after opting to bat first. Litton’s Surrey were under pressure early on in the chase after losing three wickets for 21 runs inside five over. Litton, who came out to bat at No.3, then got together with Pakistan’s Iftikhar Ahmed. The duo added 99 runs off 77 balls for the fourth wicket which set up the win for Surrey.

Litton had started cautiously, scoring 26 off the first 24 balls he faced. But he made up for the slow start with boundaries and completed his half-century off 40 deliveries.

The wicketkeeper-batter lost his wicket in the 18th over but his innings, which was adorned with three fours and three sixes, powered Surrey to a comfortable victory. Litton was named the player of the match for his efforts. At the LPL, Shakib scored 30 off 21 balls and took two wickets in three overs for just 10 runs to help Galle to a 83-run win over B-Love Kandy.

In the match, Galle posted 180-5 after opting to bat first. Kandy, in their reply, got bundled out for just 97 in 17.1 overs. Shakib came to bat after Galle had lost three wickets of 60. He and Tim Seifert then formed a 95-run partnership off 51 balls to set Galle on course for a huge total.

Shakib hit two sixes in his innings while Seifert hit five sixes and the same number of fours to finish on 74 off 39 balls. The Kandy innings was already in disarray when Shakib came into the attack as they had lost four wickets inside five overs. The left-arm spinner struck in his first ball, dismissing Pakistan’s Asif Ali and went on to pick two more wickets to end any hopes of revival for Kandy.

Meanwhile, after scoring a fifty on LPL debut, Towhid could only score 24 off 20 balls for Jaffna against Dambulla Aura. Barring Charith Asalanka, who made 56 off 52 balls, Towhid and the other Jaffna batters had a bad day at the office, as they could muster only 129 runs in their 20 overs, which Dambulla chased down with eight wickets in hand and 22 balls to spare.

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