Home ›› 09 Jan 2023 ›› Sport
Sylhet Strikers, after winning their first two matches, will look to extend their winning streak to three games against Comilla Victorians, who are looking for their first win in the ongoing ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League.
Sylhet smashed Chattogram Challengers by eight wickets in the first game, before chasing down 195 against Fortune Barishal on Saturday as their batters put up a fine display.
Their young batters – Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, and Zakir Hasan – all batted superbly as they reached home with six balls in hand.
Najmul scored 48, while the player of the match Hridoy scored 55 off 34 balls. But the game changer was Zakir, who scored 43 runs off just 18 balls, which handed them the boost necessary to chase down the huge total.
Expectedly, Sylhet fast-bowling coach Nazmul Hossain was full of praise for the batter.
“Of course (Zakir will become an asset in T20s)! I have seen very few innings like his in a chase in my playing career. His innings brought us momentum. If he can keep this on, he can be a big asset for Bangladesh in T20s,” he told the media on Sunday.
Comilla, the defending Champions of the tournament, failed to put together a fight against Rangpur Riders in their opening game of the tournament and are hoping that they can put things together in the second game.
Their star batter, England’s Dawid Malan, was hopeful that their strong team will make a comeback soon.
“In any tournament, your goal is to obviously win the tournament but your first goal is to reach the playoffs. If you are playing 12 games, you will probably lose four or five games and still qualify. So, if you lose one or two here and there it doesn’t really make a difference as long as you don’t worry about it too much and you move on forward and you still do the right things.
“This team has got so many good players, and so many match-winners, I guarantee that this team will have match-winning performances by one of those good players at some point in the next couple of matches and we will win a few games,” he told the media.
The match will be played in daylight, and if the first two matches are any indication, the pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium will produce a low-scoring affair today too.
On the first day, Chattogram scored only 89-9 against Sylhet in the first innings, while Khulna Tigers could only manage 113-8 against Dhaka Dominators on Saturday.
Nazmul, the Sylhet fast-bowling coach, was wary of that and said that they will try to continue on their form.
“There is nothing to say about the wicket in Mirpur beforehand. The picture can change at any moment. Comilla are a very good side. They will try to come back strong after losing the first match. We will try to continue on the path we walked on in the first two matches,” he said.
The match between Sylhet and Comilla will start at 1:30 PM, while the evening match will see Chattogram and Khulna face off, with both sides looking for their first victory after losing their first match.
