Home ›› 11 Feb 2023 ›› Sport
Comilla Victorians brought an end to Rangpur Riders’ six-match winning streak with a 70-run win to extend theirs to nine matches to ensure their place among the top two teams of the league stage of the ongoing ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League in Dhaka on Friday.
The match was like a playoff match before the actual one as the winner would seal their place in the first qualifier with Sylhet Strikers, who topped the table with 18 points from 12 matches.
With this win, Comilla came level with Sylhet but finished second due to an inferior net run rate and the sides will now meet on Sunday.
Rangpur will now face Fortune Barishal in the eliminator, which will also take place on Sunday.
The winner of the first qualifier will automatically enter the final, whereas the loser of the match will face the winner of eliminator in the second qualifier. The loser of the eliminator will be immediately knocked out.
On Friday, Comilla put a solid 177-5 on board, courtesy of Liton Das’ 47 and Khushdil Shah’s unbeaten 40.
In reply, Rangpur rattled to lose four wickets within the powerplay and could never recover from that landslide, ending up all out for 107.
Comilla left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam was adjudged player of the match because of his two wickets and a fantastic catch in the outfield.
“Feeling very good. Was determined to perform well this season and am glad that it is coming out well. I’ve been practising a lot and have been trying to bowl by adapting to the batter’s mindset,” he said after the match.
Batting first, Comilla were off to a great start courtesy of Liton Das and Mohammad Rizwan, who put together 43 in five overs before Nurul Hasan Sohan took a brilliant catch to get rid of the latter (24).
Sunil Narine (8) came in and hit back-to-back boundaries before watching his stumps rattled.
Liton was close to his fifty but fell for 47 off 33 balls as he was caught at the deep mid-wicket boundary.
However, it was Jaker Ali Anik (34 off 23 balls) and Khushdil Shah (40* off 20 balls) who took Comilla to 177-5. Their partnership of 72 runs came in just 39 balls, providing the proper thrust they required.
Jaker hit three sixes in his innings, while Khushdil hit two fours besides his three over-boundaries.
In reply, Rangpur were never in the chase as Tanvir sent Mohammad Naim (6) in the third over before Narine got rid of Rony Talukder (13).
Their troubles only deepened as Tanvir trapped Tom Kohler-Cadmore (1) plumb LBW and Andre Russell got rid of skipper Nurul Hasan Sohan (7).
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (29) was trying to build the innings back with Shamim Hossain (11) but an absolutely stunning catch from Rizwan behind the wicket saw Mustafizur Rahman pick up the first of his three scalps in the ninth over. Two overs later, Gurbaz was his second victim as Tanvir took a brilliant catch running in from the deep mid-wicket boundary.
Small contributions from Azmatullah Omarzai (15) and Rakibul Hasan (16) could only drag Rangpur into triple figures before they were bowled out for 107 with three overs yet to be played.
Rizwan, who along with Khushdil, was playing his last game in this year’s BPL, heaped praise on his team and hoped that they would win the first qualifier and reach the final.
“It was a good journey for me, from the start to now. Because we were under pressure as we lost three out of three. I am always trying to do my best. When I came here, what I saw from the owners, management, and captain is that they are very keen and honest, and the way they are doing things, I am very happy.
“We don’t think about losing the qualifier. I hope we will win the qualifier which sends us into the final,” the Pakistani wicket-keeper batter said.
