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That is it from the first BPL encounter of the day with Fortune Barishal making it through to the playoffs. The Khulna Tigers, who have been eliminated as a result, will be taking on Sylhet Strikers to conclude the league stage of the tournament in a while from now. Do join us for that as this is Sourabh Agrawal and Bidipto Datta taking your leave! Goodbye!
MATCH SUMMARY
Fortune Barishal won by 6 wickets
Tamim Iqbal 66(48) | Taijul Islam 3/20(3) Zakir Ali 38*(16) | Musfik Hasan 2/19(3.4)
Fortune Barishal have won with 2 deliveries to spare and as a result have become the final team to qualify for the playoffs of BPL 2024.
At the halfway stage, it seemed like 140 could be a tricky score to achieve on this track and it exactly proved to be the same. It was not a straightforward chase on this surface where a few deliveries were holding onto the surface and a few were getting steep bounce. Barishal did not get off to an ideal start as their opener Ahmed Shehzad was dismissed in the second over by Mohammad Enamul Haque.
After that, the skipper Tamim Iqbal was joined by Kyle Mayers and the two left-handers stitched a very crucial partnership of 64 runs and mixed caution with aggression really well. Just when it looked like it will be an easy chase for Fortune Barishal, Musfik Hasan broke the partnerhsip and removed Kyle Mayers for 25. Tamim then combined with veteran Mushfiqur Rahim as they added a further 38 runs with the former getting to his fifty. Again when it looked like smooth sailing for Fortune Barishal, it was that man again, Musfik Hasan who got Mushfiqur to provide the breakthrough for Comilla. The match was evenly poised when 28 runs were needed off 18 deliveries but the 18th over turned the match in the favor of Fortune Barishal when they managed to get 15 runs off it even though Tamim was dismissed after a well made 66 by Andre Russell. Mahumudullah and Soumya Sarkar guided Fortune Barishal home with 2 deliveries to go.
Eariler in the piece, it was an iffy batting performance by the batters of Comilla Victorians. Most of their batters including the likes of skipper Litton Das (12), Moeen Ali (23), Towhid Hridoy (25) got starts but could not convert it into a substantial score for their team and that substantial score which Tamim got in the second half proved to be the difference between the two teams. Comilla got to 140, thanks largely to a late surge by Jaker Ali who made an outstanding contribution of 38 runs in just 16 deliveries on this tricky surface, For Fortune Barishal, Taijul Isam was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets; also, fast bowlers like Saifuddin and McCoy were good with their variations and the hard lengths they hit.
Tamim Iqbal is the Player of the Match! Here is what he has to say.
Tamim Iqbal (Fortune Barishal captain): Happy, really happy! I think we have a really good team! Proud of the boys here. This was a good wicket for bowling and our players did a fine job with the ball and in the field. Yes I did expect someone from their side to come out and bat well, guess we were slightly off in terms of out execution but then, I don't want to be too critical of our players. Mirpur is a different wicket, we cannot get carried away with the thought of how flat the pitch was in Chattogram. We did a decent job in chasing the runs down. Kyle Mayers is a fine all-rounder. The partnership he string together with me definitely helped us. It's good to score the runs, but then, it's about the play-offs now more than anything else, as captain and part of the team management.
It is time for the post-match presentation now!
Litton Das (Comilla Victorians captain): I thought it was a difficult wicket to bat on, but the way Jaker Ali Anik finished the innings was brilliant! We have a lot of belief in out lower order to score some crucial runs. In the first 20 overs, I felt we were in the game. Yes, things could have gone a bit better for us but we were in the game after the 1st innings. We could have tried things a bit differently with the ball, but then, we tried certain things, just that they didn't come off accordingly. That 18th over went for a couple of sixes and it cost us a bit. But away, it's about the play-offs now.
Fortune Barishal have qualified for the playoffs and as a result Khulna Tigers have been eliminated from the competition.
19.4 Musfik Hasan to Mahmudullah, OH! THAT WAS NASTY BUT IT ALSO IS A WIN FOR FORTUNE BARISHAL! Short and accurate on off-stump. Mahmudullah tried to pull it away off the back foot but ended up getting pinged on the helmet. The ball rolled down to the square region on the off-side and the batters ran through for a leg-bye. Then came an overthrow to the bowler's end which allowed for the second run to be taken. Mahmudullah seems alright after the blow and Fortune Barishal qualify for the play-offs.
2 needed off 3 balls!
19.3 Musfik Hasan to Mahmudullah, back of a length around off-stump. Crunched on the up off the back foot but straight to cover for no run.
19.2 Musfik Hasan to Mahmudullah, short outside off-stump. Mahmudullah went for the pull shot on the back foot but failed to make any contact. Dot ball!
Video
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Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka
