Ravi Bopara shines during opening Bangladesh Premier League match

Ravi Bopara was named Player of the Match after Rajshahi Royals began the Bangladesh Premier League by comfortably beating Dhaka Platoon on Thursday.

It was an excellent start to the competition for Bopara, who took figures of 1-15 from his three overs as Laurie Evans' Platoon side set their opponents 135 to win. 

Evans, who is beginning his second BPL campaign, scored 13 with the bat before being dismissed by Farhad Reza. 

Despite Reza's exploits, it was Bopara who shone in the first innings - even before he claimed the wicket of Shahid Afridi. 

The new Sussex man expertly ran-out Jaker Ali, Ariful Haque and Mahedi Hassan, and then had Afridi caught behind by Liton Das for a golden duck. 

With the bat, Bopara wasn't required, as the Royals coasted to a nine-wicket win with Hazaratullah Zazai scoring an impressive half-century. 

A full scorecard can be found here.