BPL Day 3 Round-up: Samuels and Mortaza combine to defeat the Vikings; Al-Amin's hat-trick ensures Bulls' victory
In the fifth match of the Bangladesh Premier League, Comilla Victorians defeated Chittagong Vikings by seven wickets to register their first win of the tournament.
The Victorians won the toss and chose to bowl first. Tilakratne Dilshan and Tamim Iqbal opened for the Vikings and scored 36 and 33 respectively before losing their wickets.
Anamul Haque and Ziaur Rehman were the two batsmen unbeaten after the end of the innings in which the Vikings scored 176 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs.
Both the Bangladeshi batsmen scored 39 runs each with Ziaur’s runs coming at a blistering strike rate of 243.75. The West Indian Krishmar Santokie was the pick of the bowlers as he gave away only 19 runs in his three overs. Though he failed to bag a wicket.
Victorians had a dismal start as they lost both their openers by the third over with only 10 runs on the board. However, Marlon Samuels’ 52-ball-69 runs inning and later Mashrafe Mortaza’s 32-balls-56 ensured their team’s victory.
Shuvagata Hom played a handy knock of 30 runs in 16 balls as the Victorians reached the required target in the 19th over itself.
Brief Score: Chittagong Vikings 176 for 4 (20 overs) lost to Comilla Victorians 177 for 3 (18.5 overs)
The other match between Barisal Bulls and Sylhet Super Stars was a low scoring contest where the Bulls won by one run. After winning the toss, the Bulls decided to have a go with the bat.
The decision backfired badly as after an opening stand of 34 runs between Shahriar Nafees and Rony Talukdar, the whole team fell like a pack of cards. Nadif Chowdhury showed some resistance as he scored 24 runs in 28 balls and somehow managed to take his team past the 100-run mark.
They were all-out for 108 runs before even playing the whole quota of 20 overs. Nazmul Islam picked three wickets and gave away just 18 runs in 4 overs.
Super Stars’ batsmen took a cue from the Blasters and performed dismally from the bat, same as their counterparts. Al-Amin Hossain grabbed a hat-trick in the fourth over of the match when he got Ravi Bopara, Nurul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in consecutive deliveries.
The bowler also ousted the opener Mominul Haque in the second over. Owais Shah and Munaweera exhibited some resistance as they added 43 runs for the 5th wicket.
Al-Amin picked his fifth wicket in the penultimate over, which is rare in a 20-20 affair. Eight runs were needed off the last over, but the Super Stars managed only six and lost the tie by a run.
Brief Score: Barisal Bulls 108 (19.3 overs) beat Sylhet Super Stars 107 for 9 (20 overs)