Tamim powers Vikings to 2nd place

Chittagong Vikings skipper Tamim Iqbal scored a 59-ball 66, featuring eight fours and a six, to guide his side to a five-wicket win against Khulna Titans in a Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

A mature half-century from Tamim Iqbal led the Chittagong Vikings to a crucial five-wicket win over the Khulna Titans at Mirpur yesterday and also helped them move to second place on the Bangladesh Premier League table.

When you talk about T20 cricket and Tamim, you would ideally expect a whirlwind innings. However, the knock that the left-hander played yesterday was anything but that.

He scored a 59-ball 66 and in the process helped the Vikings recover from 64 for four in 11 overs to reach their target of 132 with eight balls remaining.

When the Titans were restricted to 131, many reckoned that the game would be over early, considering that the Vikings possess the best batting lineup of the tournament, including Chris Gayle.

The second innings of the match initially seemed to be moving towards that path with Chris Gayle smashing Junaid Khan and Mahmudullah Riyad for three fours and a six within the first three overs.

Tamim joined in the fun as well, hitting Junaid for three consecutive fours in the fourth over. However, in the very first ball of the next over, Shuvagata Hom got Chris Gayle caught at long-on, and that is where the game slipped temporarily from the Vikings.

Following his wicket, Tamim shifted and began playing the role of the anchor. Shuvagata Hom ran Anamul Haque out from the deep in the seventh over, while Shoaib Malik and Zakir Hossain were dismissed before the 11th over.

While Tamim managed to hold one end up, he kept losing partners and by the 11th over, they were poised at 64 for four.

Jahurul Islam joined Tamim and eased the pressure a bit at that point of time with a number of boundaries. He lofted Junaid for a six and then smacked him for a four in the 15th over and helped them bring the equation down to 38 required off 30. However, the pressure momentarily shifted towards the Titans once Jahurul was dismissed in the 16th over.

Tamim then took over and calmly drove Mosharraf Hossain and Shafiul Islam for two fours in the 17th and 18th overs to bring the equation down to eight from 12. Mohammad Nabi hit two fours in the 19th over and brought the match to an end in style.

Earlier, a cautious 42 off 39 balls from Mahmudullah Riyad and a few lusty hits from the tail helped the Khulna Titans post 131.

Khulna’s batting struggled initially with the Titans slumping to 38 for four after the first six overs. All the batsmen got out while attempting to go for big this.

Mohammad Nabi and Saqlain Sajib bowled Taibur Rahman and Alok Kapali within the first three overs. Shuvagata Hom was brilliantly caught in the deep by Shoaib Malik in the fourth over, while Riki Wessels was caught by Chris Gayle at fine-leg off Imran Khan two balls before the end of the Powerplay.

Mahmudullah and Ariful Haque joined hands to put in a 44-run stand for the fifth wicket. Ariful however was run-out in the 14th over, while Riyad was caught off Taskin Ahmed in the 15th.

Nicholas Pooran hit a 17-ball 18, while Kevon Cooper hit 15 off 14 to help the Titans cross the 130-run mark. The key wicket-takers for the Vikings were Imran Khan, who finished with figures of two for 16, while Taskin took two for 28.

Source: The Daily Star

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