Home ›› 14 Feb 2022 ›› Sport
Tamim Iqbal ended the league stage of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League as the highest run-scorer, but it all went in vain as his side Minister Dhaka failed to qualify for the play-offs after finishing fifth.
Things were different for Mustafizur Rahman, currently the leading wicket-taker or this edition, as his team Comilla Victorians finished the league stage at second, ensuring a place in the first qualifier.
The play-off stage of the BPL will start today as Chattogram Challengers and Khulna Tigers will face off in the eliminator early on before Comilla takes on table-toppers Fortune Barishal.
Tamim, Dhaka’s first pick from the player’s draft, was consistent throughout the league stage as he hit four fifties and a century. But his fifties had little to no impact as in all four matches, Dhaka lost.
Will Jacks, who had a far better impact than Tamim as he took Chattogram Challengers to the play-offs with a brilliant unbeaten 92 in their do-or-die match against Sylhet Sunrisers on Saturday, currently sits second in top run-scorers charts with 398 runs from 10 innings and has another innings to go past Tamim.
The other three making up the top five are- Colin Ingram from Sylhet Sunrisers (333 runs), Andre Fletcher from Khulna Tigers (330 runs), and Anamul Haque from Sylhet (280 runs).
Mustafiz’s impact on the Comilla bowling lineup was visible in their final game of the league stage against Khulna Tigers. The left-arm seamer was rested, and the Comilla bowlers failed to make inroads in the Khulna XI, allowing them to win by nine wickets despite chasing a massive 183.
Mustafiz has 17 wickets from eight matches, with a brilliant economy of 6.72 and has picked up a wicket in every 9.7 deliveries.
He is followed by Barishal’s Dwayne Bravo, who has picked up 16 wickets, with teammate Shakib Al Hasan at third with 15.
Chattogram’s Mrittunjoy Chowdhury has been a revelation as the youngster has picked up 13 wickets in just six matches. Khulna’s Thisara Perera is at fifth with 13 wickets in 10 matches.
Shakib show
Shakib had a slow start in this year’s BPL, but he lit the show up in the final stretch as he became the first player to achieve five player of the match awards in a row.
In his last five matches, Shakib has three fifties with the bat. In the two matches he couldn’t reach 50, he scored 38 and 41.
He has been equally impressive with the ball as he has picked up 10 wickets in these five matches, with a meagre economy of 4.85.
