BPL 2019-20: Mushfiqur Rahim's 64 in vain as Hasan Mahmud takes Dhaka Platoon to the top of the table
Dhaka Platoon secured the pole position on the Bangladesh Premier League 2019 points table with a 12-run-victory against Khulna Tigers in match number 31. Hasan Mahmud (4/32) won the Man of the Match award for his brilliant performance in the second innings.
Chasing a target of 173 runs in 20 overs, Khulna lost their top order batsmen early. Mahmud first cleaned up the stumps of Mehidy Hasan (15) and then sent the South African star Rilee Rossouw (18) back to the pavilion. Captain Mashrafe Mortaza (1/26) scalped the wicket of Aminul Islam (4). Shamsur Rahman (3) lost his wicket to Shadab Khan (1/25) as the Tigers were down to 44/4.
The team's skipper, Mushfiqur Rahim (64) took the charge of the innings and decimated the opposition bowlers by slamming 6 fours and 4 sixes. He got the support of Afghan batsman Najibullah Zadran (31). Unfortunately, neither of the two batsmen could last till the end as Khulna fell short by 12 runs. While Zadran got run out in 15th over, Rahim's wicket was scalped by Mahmud on the final ball of the 19th over.
Earlier in the day, Rahim had won the toss and invited Dhaka to have a bat first. Tamim Iqbal (25) and Anamul Haque (15) provided a good start to the team before Mominul Haque (38) and Ariful Haque (37*) laid the platform for Asif Ali (39*) to come and alter the momentum of the match. Ali smashed 2 fours and 4 sixes in his 13-ball knock. Mohammad Amir (2/27) was the most successful bowler for Tigers.
After the culmination of the 31st match of BPL 2019-20, Dhaka Platoon stands at the number one position on the standings with 12 points in 9 matches. Despite the defeat, Khulna Tigers hold the fourth spot with 10 points in 8 games Mushfiqur Rahim and co. will be in action tomorrow when they lock horns with Chattogram Challengers.