Batting first, Fortune Barishul made 129-8 thanks mainly to 36 from Chris Gayle and 33 from Dwayne Bravo. Shakib al Hasan contributed 23. Russell was the best of the bowlers picking up 2-27 from his four overs while Isuru Udana took 2-29.
Needing 130 for victory, MGD seemed destined for their third straight defeat after losing four wickets for 10 runs inside three overs as Alzarri Joseph 2-30 and Shafiqul Islam tore through the top order.
Captain Mahmudullah and Shuvagata Hom brought the chase back on track with a fifth-wicket stand of 69 that was broken by Bravo who dismissed Hom for 29.
Mahmudullah and Russell then posted 50 in 31 balls with Russell racing to his unbeaten 31 from just 15 balls with three fours and two sixes. Shakib broke the partnership when he dismissed Mahmudullah for 47 with the scores level.
Udana took a single from the first ball he faced to seal the victory.
The win means MGD are fifth in the standings with their first two points.
Chattogram Challengers leads the standings with four points having won two of their first three games.
The Strikers made 175-7 from their 20 overs after the Victorians won the toss and elected to field first.
Mushfiqur Rahim led the way with an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls including five fours and three sixes.
Earlier, opener Najmul Hossain Shanto made a 45-ball 64 including nine fours and a six. Pacer Mustafizur Rahman took 2-21 off his four overs for the Victorians.
The Victorians then needed 19.2 overs to reach their target, with the chase being led by half centuries from Charles and opener Litton Das.
Das made a 39-ball 55 including seven fours and one six to lay the foundation for Charles.
The St. Lucian’s innings lasted 52 balls and included seven fours and five sixes as he, along with captain Moeen Ali who finished 25*, steered the Victorians to their second BPL title in a row and fourth overall.
Charles ended the 2023 BPL as the 11th highest run-scorer with 308 runs in nine matches including one fifty and one hundred. He also hit the most sixes in the tournament with 26.
Scores: Sylhet Strikers 175-7 off 20 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 74*, Najmul Hossain Shanto 64, Mustafizur Rahman 2-21) Comilla Victorians 176-3 off 19.2 overs (Johnson Charles 79*, Litton Das 55, Rubel Hossain 2-39)
After winning the toss and electing to field first, Fortune Barishal thought they held the Victorians to a manageable target when they restricted them to 158-7 off their 20 overs.
Bangladesh test opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy was the main scorer for the Victorians with 48, while Afghanistan all-rounder Karim Janat supported well with 29.
Bravo was the pick of the Barishal bowlers with 3-30 off his four overs, while captain Shakib Al Hasan took 2-25 off his four.
Barishal’s reply never truly got out of first gear with only three batsmen reaching double figures on their way to being bowled out for just 95 in 17.3 overs, losing by 63 runs.
Najmul Hosain Shanto (36), Towhid Hridoy (19), and Nurul Hasan (17) were the only batsmen to pass 10.
Gayle, who batted at number five, could only manage seven before he was dismissed by man-of-the-match, Nahidul Islam.
Islam was the pick of the bowlers for Comilla with a miserly 3-5 off four overs, while Tanvir Islam, Janat, and Shohidul Islam all took two wickets each.
Comilla Victorians now have two wins from two games to sit at the top of the table while Fortune Barishal sits third with one win and two losses.
Barishal posted 143-8 off their 20 overs after Comilla captain Imrul Kayes called right at the toss and put them in to bat.
Barishal can attribute their total to opener Munim Shariar who top-scored with a 30-ball 44 that included two fours and four sixes.
Gayle played another uncharacteristically reserved innings to be the second highest scorer for Barishal with 22 off 19 balls with four fours while Bravo added some crucial late runs with 17 off 21 balls with only one six.
Shohidul Islam was the pick of the Comilla bowlers with 3-25 off three overs while Moeen Ali supported well with 4-23 from his four.
A 62-run opening partnership between Liton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy had the Victorians thinking they had one foot in the final before it all went downhill.
The partnership ended in the 11th over when Joy was dismissed for 20 before Imrul Kayes was also walking back just one over later for just five.
That 12th over, bowled by Shafiqul Islam, proved to be the most important of the innings as he also dismissed Das for 38 to leave the Victorians 68-3 and in a spot of bother.
None of the other batsmen seemed to find any rhythm at the crease with Faf Du Plessis (21), Moeen Ali (22), and Sunil Narine (17) the only remaining batsmen to reach double figures.
The Victorians were eventually restricted to 133-7 off their 20 overs thanks to Shafiqul’s crucial 2-16 off four overs.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-33 from four overs) and Mehedi Hasan Rana (2-15 from three overs) bowled well in support while Dwayne Bravo also had 1-26 from his four overs.
Fortune Barishal will now advance to the final which will be played on Friday while Comilla will have another opportunity to get there when they play the Chattogram Challengers in the second qualifier on Wednesday.
In a rematch of the first qualifier which Barishal won by 10 runs, the Victorians won the toss and batted first.
Sunil Narine followed up his 13-ball 50 in the second qualifier with a 23-ball 57 to spur the Victorians to 151-9 off their 20 overs. The Trinidadian’s knock included five fours and five sixes.
Moeen Ali provided good support for Narine with 38 off 32 balls against 2-27 off four overs from Mujeeb Ur Rahman and 2-32 off four overs from Shafiqul Islam.
Scoreboard pressure in a final once again proved to be a major factor as Barishal made a meal of a fairly manageable total.
Shykat Ali (58) and Chris Gayle (33) were the only batsmen to get significant scores for Barishal against 2-15 from four overs from Narine and 2-25 from four overs from Tanvir Islam.
Comilla Victorians previously won BPL in 2015 and 2019.
