Rangpur Division secured an emphatic eight-wicket win over Khulna Division to retain the NCL T20 trophy at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Having won the game effortlessly, Rangpur now secured the title of all two editions of NCL T20 tournament so far.

While in the first edition, they put on a consistent performance, in this edition, they appeared to have lost the ground when they came up with a poor performance in the first phase.

But they regrouped well to confirm the playoffs as fourth team and then held the nerve to win two knock out matches -Eliminator and Qualifier-2-in a thrilling contest to seal the final spot.

Ahead of the final, their captain Akbar Ali said, the two competitive matches boosted their confidence to an uncanny degree, a thing that was evidenced in the final too.

As they put Khulna to bat first, their bowlers came up with disciplined bowling, forcing the opponents to manage just 136-8.

Unlike the last two knock out matches, Rangpur overhauled the target with complete ease, reaching 138-2 in 17 overs.

The openers-Jahid Javed and Nasir Hossain-set the tone with 61-run stand, which edged them one step closer to win the game.

Javed made 24 before being fallen as the first batter of Rangpur. Nasir who played aggressively was denied his half-century. Before Afif dismissed him, he struck 31 ball-46 with five fours and one six.

Abu Hasim and Naeem Islam added 54 runs for an unbeaten third wicket to drive the side to the victory. Hasim was not out on 40 while Naeem was on 19.

Earlier, skipper Mohammad Mithun scored the bulk of the runs for Khulna, hitting a 32 ball-44 with one four and three sixes in a pitch that slowed down considerably after holding matches on regular basis.

Mrittunjoy Chowdhury was the other notable scorer for Khulna, hammering a 24 off 13 with two fours and as many sixes.

After being sent to bat first, Khulna made a disastrous start, losing opener Imranuzzman for duck and Soumya Sarkar for 8.

The crisis further deepened when Anamul Haque Bijoy was run out for 12, leaving Khulna at precarious 21-3.

Afif Hossain along with captain Mithun tried to steady the innings before Iqbal Hossain dismissed him for 12 with a return catch.

Mithun then battled lonely to take the side past 100, with some support from lower order batter Mrittunjoy.