Tamim Iqbal scored a half-century on his return to competitive Twenty20 since he suffered injury during the Everest Premier League in September, but that was not enough to secure a win for Minister Dhaka against Khulna Tigers on Friday.
Khulna defeated Dhaka by five wickets at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka in the second match of the opening day of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League T20, 2022.
After a low-scoring affair during the first match of the day, the second match produced much excitement and thrill as Dhaka posted 183-6 in 20 overs after being sent to bat.
Tamim scored 50 runs from 42 balls, Mohammad Shahzad scored 42 runs from 27 balls; both the openers laid a solid platform for the latter batsmen and Andre Russel was sent in after Mohammad Naim's departure to accelerate.
But he was run out in a weird fashion right after hitting a massive six, Mahmudullah salvaged the team by scoring 39 runs from 20 balls.
Kamrul Islam Rabbi picked three wickets but leaked 45 runs.
In reply, Khulna stumbled early after losing Tanzid Hasan Tamim but in the second wicket Andre Fletcher (45) and Rony Talukdar (61) added 72 runs from 40 balls to keep the Tigers afloat.
All their batsmen tried to maintain the tempo after Fletcher and Rony departed but the finishing touch was put by Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perrera who scored 36 runs from just 18 balls with six fours.
Khulna scored 186-5 in 19 overs, securing the first win of the tournament by five wickets.
