Sylhet Strikers won the first match of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Chattogram Challengers by eight wickets on Friday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The match was scheduled to take place at 2:30 pm, but it kicked off a half hour earlier - a further testament to the subpar management of the BPL.
Sylhet won the toss and sent Chattogrma to bat first.
Chattogram had a disappointing start as Mehedi Maruf was run out for 11 in the 3rd over and Darwish Rasooli, their Afghan recruit, was out for a mere 3 runs in the 4th. Their hopes of a major score were pinned on Al-Amin, but he too fell for just 18 runs. Skipper Shuvagata Hom`s single run only added to their woes, further worsening the situation.
But, Afif Hossain got the innings back on track with 25 runs off 23 balls with 3 fours. Unmukt Chand couldn`t make a big score as he was out for 5 runs.
Mrittunjoy Chowdhury added 3 runs while Nihaduzzaman scored 8 runs before getting out. Malinda Pushpakumara and Mehedi Hasan Rana remained unbeaten and added 6 and 2 runs respectively. At the end of 20 overs, Chattogram Challengers made 89 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.
For Sylhet, Rejaur Rahman Raja bagged four wickets conceding only 14 runs in four overs.
In reply, Sylhet Strikers had to do better on a difficult Mirpur surface to take the lead. They started well, with Najmul Hossain Shanto making 43 runs off 41 balls.
Colin Ackermann was out for 1 run but Zakir Hasan made a quick 27 runs off 21 balls to set up a winning total. Mushfiqur Rahim remained not out on 6 runs as Sylhet Strikers achieved their target in 12.3 overs.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the former Bangladesh captain, made a return to competitive cricket after an eight-month hiatus, captaining the Sylhet Strikers in this edition of the BPL.
