Durbar Rajshahi Vs Chittagong Kings, BPL 2024-25: Pakistan's Usman Khan Storms Dhaka, Hits Season's First Century

Pakistan batter Usman Khan became the first player to hit a century in the 2024-25 edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The right-handed batter, representing Chittagong Kings, achieved the feat during their league match against Durbar Rajshahi at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Friday (January 3, 2025). (More Cricket News)

The 29-year-old from Karachi lost his opening partner Parvez Hossain Emon in the second ball of the match but he stitched two crucial stands with Graham Clark (40 off 25) and skipper Mohammad Mithun (28 off 15), adding 120 runs in 63 balls and 63 runs in 31 balls for the second and third wickets, respectively.

Usman Khan reached fifty in 21 balls, then took another 27 deliveries to reach the century. During his 62-ball knock, Khan hit 13 fours and six sixes against a bowling attack led by Taskin Ahmed, who famously claimed a seven-wicket haul in their previous match against Dhaka Capitals on Thursday at the same venue.

This is the fourth-highest individual score in the history of Bangladesh Premier League, behind Chris Gayle's unbeaten 146 in 2017, Tamim Iqbal's 141 not out in 2019 and Gayle's 126 not out in 2017. Sabbir Rahman's 122 in 2016 is now the fifth-highest score.

This is also a career-best T20 score for Usman Khan. With five T20 hundreds in 56 matches, he is only behind Babar Azam (11) in the list of Pakistani players with the most tons in the format.

Khan eventually got out in the penultimate over to Taskin Ahmed (2/22) but before that the Pakistani sensation had already helped the Rajshahi-based team to a big total of 219/5.

The match witnessed a nasty collision between two Durbar Rajshahi fielders while going for a catch in the 14th over of the Kings' innings. Khan tried to launch the fourth delivery over the mid-wicket boundary but only got a top edge.

Sabbir Hossain was hit on the head by the elbow of another onrushing fielder, and was carried off with neck braces. To the relief of everyone, the Bangladeshi batter walked out to open the batting in the chase.

Match facts

Match: Bangladesh Premier League 2024-25, 7th Match

Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka

Toss: Durbar Rajshahi won the toss and bowled first

Playing XIs

Durbar Rajshahi: Mohammad Haris, Anamul Haque (c), Akbar Ali (wk), Ryan Burl, Sabbir Hossain, Yasir Ali, Sohag Gazi, Hasan Murad, Mohor Sheikh, Shafiul Islam, and Taskin Ahmed.

Chittagong Kings: Parvez Hossain Emon, Usman Khan, Mohammad Mithun (c & wk), Graham Clark, Haider Ali, Shamim Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shoriful Islam, Aliss Al Islam, and Khaled Ahmed.