Chattagram: Brilliant batting efforts from AB de Villiers and Alex Hales who scored unbeaten 184 off 99 balls in the third wicket stand helped put Rangpur Riders on top of the points table stunning Dhaka Dynamites at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Monday, reports the UNB. 

The Dynamites posted 186 for six. The Riders chased it down with 10 balls to play (189/2 in 18.2 overs) with the help of AB and Hales. AB remained unbeaten on exactly 100 off 50 balls with eight fours and six sixes while Hales remained unbeaten hitting 85 off 53 deliveries with eight fours and three sixes. 

The Riders got a mighty blow at the start of the chase as they lost first two wickets of Chris Gayle and Rilee Rossouw in just five runs. Both of the batsmen were hunted by Andre Russell in successive deliveries. But AB and Hales took over since then and came off the field with a stunning win by eight wickets. 

It was the fourth consecutive win for the Riders and overall sixth win which helped them climb the top place in the BPL points table surpassing Chittagong Vikings who beat Khulna Titans earlier in the day to ride on the top spot. 

Earlier, Dhaka Dynamites posted 186/6 in 2o overs while batting first after winning the toss. Rony Talukdar was the best batsman for the Dynamites as he struck 52 off 32 balls with six fours and one six.

They scored 64 during the power play losing the wicket of Hazratullah Zazai. He fell for 17 off 18 balls. Before being dismissed by Farhad Reza, Zazai accompanied Sunil Narine to add 35 in the opening stand.

Narine fell for 28 before Shakib Al Hasan and Rony posted 54 in the third wicket stand. The Dynamites passed the 100-run mark in 12 overs. They were easily going to pass 200-run mark as well.

But, like Zazai and Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell also failed to maintain their good start. Shakib fell for 25 off 12 balls while Russell contributed 14 off eight balls. Both of the all-rounders managed a good start but failed to make a big impact.

However, Rony was firm in the middle and struck a watchful fifty. He ended as the fifth batsman scoring 52 off 32 balls. Keiron Pollard, the West Indian all-rounder of the Dynamites, was the last batsman to show some strength. He remained unbeaten scoring 37 off 23 balls with five fours and one six.

In the continuous run-fest in Chattogram, Farhad Reza took two wickets for the Riders while Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Shafiul Islam and Shahidul Islam took one wicket each for them.

The Riders will play their next game on Tuesday against Rajshahi Kings and Dhaka Dynamites will face hosts Chittagong Vikings on Wednesday.