Comilla champions again

Comilla Victorians kept their perfect record in the final intact as they beat Sylhet Strikers by seven wickets in the final of the ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League to claim their second consecutive title and fourth overall.

The final was termed as a clash between Comilla and Sylhet skipper Mashrafe as both were yet to be beaten in a BPL final.

And it ended in a fitting manner as player of the match, Johnson Charles, who scored 79 off 52 balls, took the winning run of Mashrafe’s bowling to put an end to the former Bangladesh skipper’s 100 per cent winning record in BPL finals.

In the end, it was a pretty simple game for Comilla but that was not how it always was. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 64 and Mushfiqur Rahim’s unbeaten 74 took Sylhet to 175-7, by no means a small total in a final.

Despite Liton Das’ fifty, Comilla needed 52 off the last four overs, putting the game in the balance. From there, Charles put on a show as he hit Rubel Hossain, who had dropped him earlier in the match, for two sixes and a four after Moeen Ali had hit a six.

Then, the Caribbean batter did the same to Luke Wood in the penultimate over, leaving them with only three to get in the final over, which they did with four balls to spare.

Rather than scintillating cricket, the final was a display of poor fielding by both sides. Comilla gave away over 20 runs in their shambolic fielding effort alongside dropping four catches while Sylhet missed only one.

But in the end, it did not matter for Comilla but that one drop ended up being crucial for Sylhet as it was of Charles, who scored 71 more after being dropped on eight by Rubel.

Put into bat first, Sylhet were off to a fantastic start as two overthrows from Comilla fielders Mukidul Islam Mugdho and Tanvir Islam, along with two fours from Najmul, saw them gather 18 in the first over.

However, Comilla brought themselves back in the game quick as Towhid Hridoy was bowled for a duck trying to cut left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam.

Mashrafe promoted himself up the order again, but third time was not the charm as he was sent back by Russell for one.

From there, Najmul and Mushfiq put together a 79-run stand off 56 balls, which set the base for them to capitalise in the final overs.

Najmul was gone for 64 after becoming the first Bangladesh batter to score 500 runs in a single BPL campaign, ending the season with 516 runs.

Yet, Sylhet had a strong base to build on as they were on 109-3 after 13 overs, and while Mushfiq kept on at one end, Sylhet missed a trick by sending their hitters - Ryan Burl (13) and Thisara Perera (0) - early, a trick that did not work as both of them faltered and sending Zakir Hasan (1) down the order saw the left–handed batter’s form ruined.

Comilla were poor in the field throughout as fielders such as Moeen and Liton dropped catches, alongside Mustafizur Rahman and skipper Imrul Kayes, who dropped Najmul.

Despite all this, Sylhet could only manage 66 runs in the last seven overs, and it could have been three runs less if not for a comedy of errors.

Mushfiq edged one to the keeper off Russell’s final delivery but it was a no-ball. Mushfiq could only send the resultant free hit as a catch to the deep mid-wicket, which Liton grabbed, but just rolled the ball as he had forgotten it was a free hit, and Mushfiq ran two.

In reply, Comilla lost Sunil Narine (10) and Imrul (2) early but a 70-run partnership between Liton and Charles meant they were always on par with the asking rate.

Liton, on his birthday, reached his fifty off 36 balls, and hit seven fours and a six before getting out on 55.

After his dismissal, Comilla struggled for a bit, taking the asking rate to 13 when the 16th over ended but it did not matter as Charles, who was on 39 from 39 balls at that point, unleashed himself and took Comilla to their fourth title.