West Indian all-rounder Kyle Mayers produced a man of the match performance to help Fortune Barishal secure their first Bangladesh Premier League title with a six-wicket win over Comilla Victorians in the final at the Shere-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
The Victorians, who entered Friday’s game seeking their third BPL title in a row and fifth overall, made 154-6 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by Barishal.
Mahidul Islam Ankon was the top scorer for Comilla with a measured 35-ball 38 while Andre Russell provided some lower order excitement with 27 off 14 balls including four sixes.
James Fuller was expensive in his four overs, going for 43 while picking up a pair of wickets.
Mayers and Obed McCoy were both economical on the day with figures of 1-26 and 1-24 from four overs, respectively.
Barishal then needed only 19 overs to reach 157-4 and secure their maiden hold on the title.
Mayers completed a fine all-round display with a top score of 46 off 30 balls including five fours and two sixes.
Captain Tamim Iqbal, who was named the player of the tournament, made 39 off 26 balls including three fours and as many sixes at the top of the order.
His opening partner, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, also batted well for his 26-ball 29.
Mustafizur Rahman and Moeen Ali took a pair of wickets, each, for the Victorians.
The Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barishal will lock horns to determine the champion of the 2024 Bangladesh Premier League at the Shere-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
The Victorians, home of West Indians Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Johnson Charles, will be looking for their third BPL title in a row and fifth overall while Barishal, home of Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy and Yannic Cariah, will be seeking their first BPL crown.
Comilla finished second on the final points table in the league phase and got to the final on the back of a six-wicket win over the Rangpur Riders in Qualifier 1 on Monday.
Barishal, who finished third on the points table, got a seven-wicket win over the Chattogram Challengers in the Eliminator on Monday before upsetting the Riders with a six-wicket win in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday.
The final is expected to be an exciting affair as both teams have registered wins over each other this season.
They first met on January 23 with the Victorians winning by four wickets before, a month later, Barishal registered a six-wicket win.
Individually, the two finalists boast the top two run scorers in this season’s edition of the BPL.
Fortune Barishal will be looking for a big contribution from opener Tamim Iqbal who currently leads the run-scoring chart with 453 runs from 14 innings at a strike rate of 125.48 including three fifties.
Second on that list in Comilla’s Towhid Hridoy with 447 runs from 13 innings at a strike rate of 149.49 including a hundred and a pair of fifties.
Comilla’s Litton Das (375 runs from 13 innings) and Barishal’s Mushfiqur Rahim (367 runs from 14 innings) are also among the top five run getters this season and will be looking to score big in Friday’s final.
As for the bowling side, medium pacer Mohammad Saifuddin has taken 14 wickets at an average of 14.14 for Barishal while left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam has picked up 13 wickets in 12 matches for the Victorians.
Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz and West Indian left-arm quick Obed McCoy have also been in good form for Barishal with 11 wickets each.
A miserly spell of bowling from Sunil Narine was not enough to prevent the Comilla Victorians from going down by 12 runs to the Sylhet Sixers in the Bangladesh Premier League on Monday.
Narine starred with 2-16 from his four overs to help the Victorians restrict the Sixers to 177-5 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Rishad Hossain also took a pair of wickets for the Victorians but was expensive, going for 37 in his three overs.
English all-rounder Benny Howell led the way for Sylhet with a 31-ball 62 including six fours and four sixes while the hard-hitting Kennar Lewis made 33 off 25 balls at the top of the innings.
Then, despite 85 from Captain and wicket-keeper Litton Das, the Victorians were held to 165-6 off their 20 overs.
Andre Russell also tried his best with 23 off 14 balls but a crucial spell of bowling from Tanzim Hasan Sakib was too much for Comilla to overcome in the end.
He was relatively expensive, going for 33 in three overs, but took three wickets in the process.
Samit Patel and Shafiqul Islam were more economical in their four-over spells, taking figures of 1-15 and 1-18, respectively.
Comilla still sits second in the points standings despite the loss with 14 points from 10 games while the Sixers are still sixth in the seven-team table with eight points from 11 outings.
West Indies all-rounder Matthew Forde was one of the stars of the show for the Comilla Victorians in their four-wicket win over Durdanto Dhaka in their Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) clash at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
Forde led the way with his medium pace with 3-35 from his four overs to help limit Dhaka to 175-4 from their 20 overs after they won the toss and chose to bat.
Mohammad Naim (64) and Saif Hassan (57) led the way with the bat for Durdanto.
The Victorians then successfully chased down their target with one ball to spare, reaching 176-6.
Towhid Hridoy led the way with an unbeaten 57-ball 108 including eight fours and seven sixes while Brooke Guest provided good support with 34 off 35 balls including four fours and a six.
The win moves the Victorians to second on the points table with 10 points from their seven games.
Johnson Charles made a spectacular 79* to lead the Comilla Victorians to a seven-wicket victory over the Sylhet Strikers in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday.
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)
West Indian batsman Johnson Charles produced a magnificent 107 not out to lead the Comilla Victorians to a seven-wicket win over the Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
The Tigers took first strike after the Victorians won the toss and elected to field first, a decision that looked like the right one when Mahmudul Hasan Joy was dismissed by Pakistani pacer Naseem Shah in the third over with the score on 13.
That wicket brought Tigers skipper Shai Hope to the crease alongside Tamim Iqbal and the pair put on a T20 batting masterclass, blasting the Comilla bowling all over the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
A 184-run second wicket partnership between them helped the Tigers reach 197 after 19 overs before Iqbal was finally dismissed five runs short of a magnificent hundred. Iqbal hit 11 fours and four sixes in 61 deliveries.
In the end, Khulna ended their 20 overs on 210-2 with Hope ending not out on 91. His knock came off just 55 balls and included five fours and seven sixes.
The Victorians reply got off to the worst possible start when top batsman Litton Das was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the wrist with the second ball of the innings.
This brought Captain Imrul Kayes to the wicket and he and Mohammad Rizwan put on 22 before Kayes was dismissed for five in the third over.
Rizwan was then joined at the crease by Charles and the two put on a display like that of Hope and Iqbal in the Tigers’ innings.
The pair put on what turned into a match-winning 122-run partnership before Rizwan was dismissed for a 39-ball 73 in the 14th over.
Charles continued on his merry way and brought up a magnificent hundred with a six over cover in the 18th over. His knock came off 53 balls and included five fours and 10 sixes.
He closed proceedings with a six in the 19th over to help the Victorians complete the highest chase in BPL history.
The Victorians now have 12 points from nine games and have secured their spot in the playoffs with a game to spare.
Scores: Khulna Tigers 210-2 in 20 overs (Tamim Iqbal 95, Shai Hope 91*) Comilla Victorians 213-3 in 18.2 overs (Johnson Charles 107*, Mohammad Rizwan 73).
Comilla Victorians are now three-time champions of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after securing a narrow one-run win over Fortune Barishal in the final in Mirpur on Friday.
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.
Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo are into the final of the 2022 Bangladesh Premier League after Fortune Barishal defeated Sunil Narine’s Comilla Victorians by 10 runs in the first qualifier in Mirpur on Monday.
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.
Andre Fletcher scored an unbeaten 100 to lead Khulna Tigers to a nine-wicket victory over Comilla Victorians on Saturday and a place in the play-offs of the Bangladesh Premier League.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell took three wickets to help Minister Group Dhaka defeat Comilla Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League today in Chattogram.
After Comilla won the toss and elected to field first, a half-century from Dhaka captain Mahmudullah, as well as 46 from Tamim Iqbal, helped Minister Group Dhaka put up a score of 181-6 off their 20 overs.
Russell contributed 11 off seven balls late in the innings.
In Comilla Victorians chase, Mahudul Hasan Joy (46) and captain Imrul Kayes (28) tried to make a fight of it. However, Russell’s 3-17, from 2.3 overs, alongside two wickets each from Qais Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain meant that the Victorians would be bowled out for just 131, losing the match by 50 runs.
Comilla Victorians and Minister Group Dhaka are now second and third in the table, respectively, with six points each.
Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo’s Fortune Barishal suffered their second straight loss, this time at the hands of the Comilla Victorians, as action in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) continued Tuesday in Mirpur.
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.
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