Defending champions Rangpur Riders are set to face Hobart Hurricanes in their second match of the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League on Sunday at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 8:00 PM Bangladesh Standard Time.

Riders got off to a strong start in the tournament with an 8-run win over Guyana Amazon Warriors on Friday. They’ll now face a confident Hurricanes side, who cruised past Dubai Capitals by 7 wickets in their tournament opener.

Pacer Khaled Ahmed was the standout performer for Rangpur in the first game, claiming four crucial wickets that turned the tide in their favour. Azmatullah Omarzai and Tabraiz Shamsi also played pivotal roles with the ball, picking up two wickets each as Riders clawed back into the match when Guyana needed only 38 runs from 36 balls with six wickets in hand.

However, concerns linger in the Riders’ batting lineup, particularly in the middle order. Azmatullah and Yasir Ali, batting at No. 4 and 5 respectively, fell cheaply, and skipper Nurul Hasan Sohan couldn’t anchor the innings either. Yet, the positive opening partnership from Saif Hassan and Soumya Sarkar, followed by a recovery and late surge from Kyle Mayers and Iftikhar Ahmed, helped Riders post a defendable total of 162.

Hobart Hurricanes, meanwhile, chased their target of 142 keeping 18 balls in hand, thanks to captain Ben McDermott’s explosive 48 off 24 deliveries and a composed fifty from Macalister Wright. Their spin trio of Mohammad Nabi, Fabian Allen, and Usama Mir proved effective and economical in their last outing. Nabi and Allen shared three wickets between them while conceding just 21 runs in four overs.

With the Guyana surface favouring spin, the battle between Riders’ Shamsi-Harmeet-Iftikhar-Saif and the Hurricanes’ Nabi-Allen-Usama could ultimately decide the contest. Five of the top eight wicket-takers in the tournament so far have been spinners, underlining the impact of slow bowling on this track.