Barishal suffer second straight defeat

Riding on 48 by Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) debutant Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Comilla Victorians beat Fortune Barishal by 63 runs on Tuesday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

It was the second win for the Victorians in two matches they have played so far in the BPL while it was the second defeat for Barishal in three matches so far.

Barishal won the toss in this match and sent Comilla to bat first, who made a good start as Cameron Delport and Joy added 33 in the first 3.2 overs. Joy smashed Nayeem Hasan for two fours and one six in the very second over of the match, and in the next over, bowled by Barishal captain Shakib Al Hasan, Delport hit three fours.

While Joy continued to keep the scoreboard afloat, Delport fell prey to Nayee in the fourth over of the innings for 19 off 13 balls.

In the sixth over, Shakib removed Faf du Plessis, the former South African superstar who is yet to announce his presence in BPL with his signature batting skills. This time, he only returned six off 11 deliveries.

Imrul Kayes, the veteran top-order batter, was also lean in the middle in Tuesday’s match as he scored only 15 off 11 balls. They eventually ended up on a challenging total of 158 for seven in 20 overs, fueled by Afghan allrounder Karim Janat’s 16-ball 29 with one four and three sixes.

For Barishal, Dwayne Bravo, the West Indian allrounder, bagged three wickets conceding 30 runs in four overs while Shakib scalped two.

In reply, Barishal batters were clueless to play against the spin of Nahidul Islam who conceded only five runs in four overs and scalped three wickets including Chris Gayle. The right-arm offspinner also bagged the wickets of Shykat Ali and Shakib.

Nahidul’s first prey was Shykat who fell for a duck in the very first over, which made it tough for Barishal to come up with a good start in pursuit of a challenging target of 159 runs.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was the best batter for Barishal scoring 36 off 47 balls at a strike rate of 76.59. Apart from him, Nurul Hasan and Towhid Hridoy were the other two batters to have reached a double-digit score— 17 and 19 respectively.

While Nahidul got three wickets, Shohidul Islam, Tanvir Islam and Karim Janat took two wickets each.

Comilla Victorians will play their next match against Chattogram Challengers on January 31 while Barishal will play against Khulna Tigers on January 29. Both of these matches will be played in the port city of Chattogram.