Nepali leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane once again returned as the most economical bowler for Sylhet Sixers but the franchise still lost by six wickets to Rangpur Riders in a Bangladesh Premier League run glut in Sylhet, Bangladesh on Saturday. 

In a match where Riders chase down a mammoth 195 with three balls to spare, all Sixers bowlers were hammered but Lamichhane continued to get economical in his wicketless four overs conceding just 21 runs. The performance comes a day after he took economical 1-18 against Dhaka Dynamites which also came for a losing cause. 

Skipper David Warner introduced Lamichhane in the fourth over where he was unfortunate not to get rid of Riders’ top scorer Rilee Rossouw who was dropped by wicketkeeper Liton Das. He came back in the eighth and conceded eight runs with Rossouw hitting him a boundary. His third over went for eight runs and final for just three. 

Rossouw went on to make most of the drop chance and smashed a 35-ball 61 with nine fours and two sixes. Rossouw was named the man-of-the-match. Taskin Ahmed took four wickets but was smashed for 40 runs. Alex Hales (33) and AB de Villiers (34) were other notable scorers for Riders. 

Earlier, Sabbir Rahman smashed a 51-ball 85 with six sixes and five boundaries laying foundation for the big total for Sixers. 

Nicholas Pooran then provided the late lift in a 27-ball cameo of 47 that included four fours and three sixes. 

Lamichhane has so far picked up five wickets in the tournament with his best bowling figures of 2-16 coming against Comilla Victorians in their tournament opener. He will now play Khulna Titans on February 23 before joining the national team for a three-match each One Day International and Twenty20 International Series against the United Arab Emirates beginning from February 25.