Khulna Royal Bengals captain Shahriar Nafees jumps into the air to celebrate his century against Duronto Rajshahi during their Bangladesh Premier League match at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna on Thursday. — New Age photo

Shahriar Nafees became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to score a century in the Bangladesh Premier League as Khulna  Royal Bengals  ended their losing streak in style with an emphatic 68-run win over Duronto Rajshahi on Thursday.
Shahriar slammed 102 off 69 balls, also the first century of BPL-2, which adding with Lou Vincent’s 51-ball 89, took Royals Bengals to 197-0 in their 20 overs, a record for any wicket partnership in a BPL match.
On a day when everything went perfect Khulna bowlers also complemented their batting performance to dismiss Duronto for 129 runs for their first win in the competition after three consecutive defeats.
Shahriar and Vincent surpassed the record of Chris Gayle and Ahmed Shehzad, who scored 167 runs in their 10-wicket bashing of Sylhet Royals in the opening match of inaugural edition.
Their exploit also found a place in the record book as it has now become the second best opening stand at any recognised domestic or international Twenty20 match, leaving behind Kevin O’Brien and Hamish Marshal’s 192 for Gloucestershire against Middlesex in 2011.  
Paul Ingram and Jamie How hold the record of best Twenty20 opening stand when they made 201 for Central Districts against Wellington in New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 tournament in 2012.
Shahriar, who hammered 12 fours and two sixes, owed his record to Naeem Islam Jr, who dropped the batsman off his own bowling on 12, the only occasion Duronto came close to taking a wicket.
Shahriar completed his hundred with a double off Sean Ervine and jumped into the sky in wild celebration, which also came as an answer to some critics who had written his team off after three consecutive bashings.
Duronto lost Tamim Iqbal for five runs in the chase and could never recover from the blow before being bowled out in 18.3 overs with Farhad Reza taking three wickets for 22 runs for the home side.

BRIEF SCORES
Khulna Royal Bengals 197-0 in 20 overs (S Nafees 102 not out, L Vincent 89 not out) v Doronto Rajshahi 129 in 18.3 overs (J Islam 26, C Coventry 23, MM Ali 22, S Ervine 22; F Reza 3-22, S Zadran 2-9)
Result: Khulna Royal Bengals won by 68 runs.
Man of the match: S Nafees (KRB)