The turn of the first match of the day in BPL held in Mirpur has turned again and again. In the end Sylhet Strikers got a thrilling victory by 2 runs. And Mashrafe remained at the top of the points table. Sylhet scored 173 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. In response, Barisal’s innings stopped at 171 runs.
Fortune Barisal got off to a good start chasing runs. 45 runs came from the opening pair in 4.5 overs. Saif Hasan got out after scoring 31 runs off 19 balls. Enamul Haque Vijay came back to play the next wicket for 2 runs.
After that, team leader Shakib Al Hasan and Ibrahim Zadran started to lead the team towards victory through the third wicket pair of excellent batting. But when Zadran got out for 42 runs and Shakib got out for 29 runs, the team fell under pressure. Later the efforts of Iftekhar and Karim Janat failed. Karim was out for 21 runs, Mahmudullah for 7 runs, Miraz for 7 runs and Iftekhar for 17 runs. And Wasim was unbeaten on 10 runs and Rabbi on 1 run.
Earlier, Fortune Barisal team leader Shakib Al Hasan invited the Sylhet strikers to bat after winning the toss at the beginning of the match. After losing the toss and going to bat, Barisal’s Mohammad Wasim bowled Sylhet in a disaster. Wasim picked up three wickets in the second over of the innings. Zakir-Mushfiq was out for 0 runs and Hridoy was out for 5 runs.
Opener Nazmul Hasan Shanto and the team’s English wicketkeeper batsman Tom Moore took the lead of the team which lost by three wickets for only 15 runs. At this time, the two kept increasing the team score with an average of 81 runs. Moore got out after scoring 40 runs off 30 balls. Perera scored 21 runs off 16 balls to play the next wicket.
Meanwhile, Shant playing in Apontal remained unbeaten on 89 runs after completing his personal half-century. His innings of just 66 balls was decorated with 11 fours and a six. Meanwhile, Wasim retired Hart for 5 runs. And Tanjim Hasan Shakib remains unbeaten on zero runs.
(24 January/MM)