The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
The Sylhet Strikers stamp their authority on the Khulna Tigers as they continue their dominance in the tournament. They have also ensured that they will go through to the playoffs as one of the top two teams which gives them an extra opportunity at the title. The league phase hasn't ended yet and we will be back with live action again in an hour's time. Till then it's good bye from the commentary box. This is Arya Sekhar Chakraborty signing off on behalf of my fellow commentator Srivastha.
Mashrafe Mortaza | Sylhet Strikers captain: Yeah thankyou. Good win. Finish up in the top two is great. Still there is a niggle, it will take time. I am trying my best but these sprt of injures takes time to heal especially in winter. Its going to be a difficult. All over the world, bowlers like Amir and Imad are priceless bowlers. You know PSL is going on so they will have to go. So many T20s going around so not easy to find a good replacement. There is no replacement for Imad and Amir to be honest. Rahim was the first call in the auction because he is such an experienced player. He knew exactly what he needed to do. Zakir Hasan and Towhid and Shanto have batted brilliantly. Zakir is a special one.
Imad Wasim | Player of the Match: Good that we won the game, quite happy. Had to leave for Pakistan after this game, so it's good to end with a win. Just wanted to keep it simple, build pressure on the batters by bowling dots and it worked. I've been doing it (bowling in powerplays) for a decade now, that's experience. As they say, you can't buy experience. Want to thank the crowd for supporting us all through the tournament. Hope we win the tournament.
Shai Hope | Khulna Tigers captain: We let ourselves down. We have ourselves to blame. The batters did not lift up their socks today. It was a good pitch, we did not execute the way we should have. We did not have enough on the board. The ball swung a lot today, even for their bowlers. Our bowlers did well to fight but couldn't get over the line. Hopefully a victory [on what he is expecting in their final game].
Sylhet Strikers won by 6 wickets (with 18 deliveries to spare)
Khulna Tigers 113/8 in 20 overs Mahmudul Hasan Joy 41(41) | Tanzim Hasan Sakib 3/22 | Imad Wasim 2/10
Sylhet Strikers 114/4 in 17 overs Zakir Hasan 50(46) | Mushfiqur Rahim 39(35) | Mohammad Saifuddin 1/13
It was never going to be a difficult run chase for the Sylhet Strikers and they eventually made light work of the target and won by 6 wickets and with 18 deliveries remaining. After a couple of quick wickets of the inform Towhid Hridoy and the impressive Najmul Hossain Shanto, it was the duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Zakir Hasan who steadied the ship with an impressive partnership. They didn’t take any undue risk and it was only after he was set that Hasan started taking the attack to the Khulna Tigers bowlers.
Towhid Hridoy departed off the bowling of Mohammad Saifudin. He went across the line and perished against the swinging ball. Shanto followed him soon after as he went for a slog sweep against Nahidul Islam and only managed to top edge that straight down the throat of Shai Hope. Zakir Hasan struggled to time the ball early on but once Rahim came out in the middle, he steadied his nerves as the duo stitched together a very important partnership.
Zakir Hasan went onto reach a well-deserved half-century on the 15th over. Rahim kept building his innings and also played some delectable shots to never allow the required rate to creep up. Zakir and Rahim were dismissed at quick intervals but by then the target was well within grasp. Ryan Burl slammed a six over deep midwicket to finish off the game in the most emphatic fashion as the Strikers won by 6 wickets (with 3 overs remaining).
Earlier in the day it was the Khulna Tigers who won the toss and opted to bat and could never really get any sort of flow to the innings. Mahmudul Hasan Joy batted well for a run-a-ball 41 but none of the rest could make a substantial impact. It was some lusty blows from Nahidul Islam that eventually took the Khulna Tigers to 113 in their allotted 20 overs. Tanzim Hasan Sakib was the pick of the bowlers, bagging 3/22. Imad Wasim was arguably the game changer, finishing with figures of 2/10
17.3 Hasan Murad to Ryan Burl, SIX! Burl finishes it off well. A length ball outside off, he can strike them so well, heaved powerfully over wide long-on, sails a long way and Sylhet win easily
17.2 Hasan Murad to Gulbadin Naib, full on the stumps, clipped to deep mid-wicket
17.1 Hasan Murad to Ryan Burl, tossed up outside off, blasted to long-on for one
A single to complete that 17th over, Ryan Burl has come out with his intentions clear. He is a lusty striker of the ball and has already displayed that with a crunching swipe across the line which fetched him a boundary.
;'/></svg>){kind=small}
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka
Ryan Burl
*
Nasum Ahmed
Video
;'/></svg>)
