Rangpur Riders are favorites to win
Sylhet Sixers take on Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League, at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. The match is scheduled for January 16 and the live action begins at 18:30 local time.
TV channels: Sony Six, Geo TV, Gazi TV, Maasranga Television, SportsMax, FreeSports
Live streaming: Rabbitholebd Sports
Rangpur Riders have won the toss in each of their last three matches and elected to field on each of those occasions.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Sylhet Sixers vs Rangpur Riders, BPL 2019.
Sylhet Sixers could make changes after their top order failed them against Comilla Victorians - they were 22/7 after 7.4 overs, despite having brought Andre Fletcher in for Sandeep Lamichhane.
Nicolas Pooran finished the first phase of league fixtures as the second highest run scorer in the competition, despite only playing three matches. The in-form West Indian, who also excelled in the T10 League before Christmas, hit scores of 41, 52 and 72 in his first three innings, at a combined strike rate above 150.
Sylhet Sixers now need their top order to fire too. David Warner scored 59 from 47 balls in the win against Chittagong Vikings, and he and Liton Das will hope to start scoring runs at the top of the order again.
Sylhet Sixers boast a balanced bowling line-up too, with Taskin Ahmed in the wickets in Dhaka – he claimed 4-28 in the win against Chittagong and 3-38 against Dhaka Dynamites. Sandeep Lamichhane is the most eye-catching bowler in the squad, meanwhile, and the Nepalese spinner followed up his eight Big Bash League wickets with 2-16 against Comilla Victorians.
Sylhet Sixers have won just one of their four matches so far. That includes two defeats to Comilla Victorians, having posted just 127/8 in their first game before being bowled out for 68 in against the same opposition most recently.
An improved performance next up lifted them to 168/5 against Chittagong Vikings, with David Warner top-scoring with 59 and Nicolas Pooran hitting 52 not out, and Taskin Ahmed's 4-28 helped them to a five-run win.
Their final game in Dhaka ended in defeat, however, against the Dhaka Dynamites. Three more wickets for Ahmed helped restrict Dhaka to 173/7, but - despite 72 from 47 balls from Pooran - they suffered a 32-run defeat.
Sylhet Sixers then found themselves 22/7 after 7.4 overs last time out against Comilla Victorians and, though Alok Kapali dragged them to 68 all out, they crashed to an eight-wicket defeat.
David Warner, Liton Das, Nasir Hossain, Nicolas Pooran, Sabbir Rahman, Afif Hossain, Alok Kapali, Sandeep Lamichhane, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Irfan
Nahidul Islam replaced Mehedi Maruf for the final game of their first phase of league fixtures - Rangpur's only change after fielding the same line-up in the previous two matches. Chris Gayle had a new opening partner in captain Mashrafe Mortaza, but that experiment may be shelved after he lasted just two balls. England's Alex Hales has not featured since Gayle's NOC was belatedly received, but he finds his way into the side blocked by the overseas quartet of Gayle, Ravi Bopara, Benny Howell and in-form Rilee Rossouw. AB de Villiers is set to join the squad for the remainder of the group stage now too, meaning another big-hitting batsman to try and accommodate.
Mashrafe Mortaza took ten wickets in the first five matches, four of which came in the win against Comilla Victorians as he ran through the top order to claim figures of 4-11. Mortaza was also one of the stand-out bowlers last time out, with figures of 2-22 from his four overs.
He is backed by Shafiul Islam, who took 1-19 to move to nine wickets so far, having previously taken 3-35 against Dhaka Dynamites, while Benny Howell maintains a good economy rate and has four wickets to his name.
The star of the show for the Rangpur Riders so far, however, has been batsman Rilee Rossouw. The South African led the batting charts after the first phase of fixtures – though his unbeaten 44 from 45 balls lacked the urgency the Riders’ needed in their most recent game.
Nevertheless, he has 230 runs from five innings so far, including two half-centuries, and – having been unbeaten three times – he averages 115 so far.Now the Riders need Chris Gayle to start firing again. His incredible batting at the business end of the 2017 tournament – including an unbeaten 146 in the final – led Rangpur to the title and his 23 from 14 balls last time out pointed to him recapturing some of his best form.
Rangpur Riders bounced back from an opening-day defeat, when they were bowled out for just 98 in a three-wicket loss to Chittagong Vikings, by winning back-to-back matches. Rilee Rossouw hit an unbeaten 76 as the Riders scored 169/3 to beat KhulnaÂÂ Titans by eight runs, while Mashrafe Mortaza claimed 4-11 in four overs to help dismiss Comilla Victorians for 63 in a nine-wicket Riders’ win.
Since then, however, they have suffered two narrow defeats in a row. In the first of those, against Dhaka Dynamites, they fell just two runs short in reply to 183/9 – losing late wickets after Rossouw’s 44-ball 83 had left them well set for victory. Last time out, meanwhile, they were set 136 to beat Rajshahi Kings but sluggish batting in the middle overs cost them, as they finished 130/6.
Rilee Rossouw, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Mithun, AB de Villiers, Nazmul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Nahidul Islam, Farhad Reza, Benny Howell, Sohag Gazi, Mashrafe Mortaza
Given Sylhet Sixers' poor start to the Bangladesh Premier League and their batting collapse last time out, it is no surprise to see Rangpur Riders such big favourites for this one. Bet365 have the Riders at 1.57, while Betfair are offering 1.44 on a Rangpur win. Sylhet Sixers are as high as 2.75 with the latter.
Rangpur's batting has plenty of strength in depth, particularly if AB de Villiers is to be added to it. At the very least, however, with Chris Gayle at the top of the order, they can justify their best price of 1.80 with Bet365 on posting the highest opening partnership.
Gayle is 3.50 to be their top run scorer with Betfair, while captain Mashrafe Mortaza is key with the ball, and he is 5.00 to be their top wicket taker.
Given Sylhet Sixers' poor start to the Bangladesh Premier League and their batting collapse last time out, it is no surprise to see Rangpur Riders such big favourites for this one. Bet365 have the Riders at 1.57, while Betfair are offering 1.44 on a Rangpur win. Sylhet Sixers are as high as 2.75 with the latter.
Rangpur's batting has plenty of strength in depth, particularly if AB de Villiers is to be added to it. At the very least, however, with Chris Gayle at the top of the order, they can justify their best price of 1.80 with Bet365 on posting the highest opening partnership.
Gayle is 3.50 to be their top run scorer with Betfair, while captain Mashrafe Mortaza is key with the ball, and he is 5.00 to be their top wicket taker.
Sylhet Sixers come into this game in poor form and, after their batting collapse the previous night, confidence will be low - Rangpur can get back to winning ways as a result.
Final Verdict: Back Rangpur Riders to beat Sylhet Sixers at 1.44 with Betfair and 1.57 with Bet365
Bet online on Top Cricket Betting Sites and apps. Get Best Betting Sign-Up Offers and Exclusive Bonuses with Promo Codes. Deposit now with popular payment methods to bet online.
The most trusted gambling site of the US offers a gamut of cricket betting markets and features. Place your bets now and make huge winnings with the sportsbook.
A host to a store house of online betting features, BetOnline is here to stay for long. Turn your cricket betting cycle towards the best road map with the sportsbook.
Bet on Cricket with Everygame, one of the top USA bookmaker. Join Now and get Up to $750 Sign Up Bonus
SportsBetting.ag betting site is fully equipped with large betting markets, live betting, live streaming features along with a bunch of hefty bonuses and offers. Try SportsBetting.ag website for a unique all-rounder cricket betting fun at one place.
Leave Your Comment
We do our best to give you most accurate & useful match predictions and would love to hear from you. Let us know if we need to improve. Share your own predictions for the matches. Let's talk: