A breathtaking display of powerful hitting from opener Mehedi Maruf has powered Dhaka Dynamites to a commanding eight-wicket win over Barisal Bulls in their opener of the Bangladesh Premier League 2016/17.
The right-handed batsman smashed an unbeaten 75 off just 45 deliveries to help the Dynamites hunt down 149 with four overs to spare at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Electing to field first, the bowlers gave Dhaka a good start by taking three wickets before Barisal could reach 50. Mushfiqur Rahim (50 not out) and Shahriar Nafees (55) then paired in a blistering 82-run stand to help their team post 148 for six.
Pacer Mohammad Shahid (3-21) troubled the batsmen early on by hitting the deck hard and finding slight movement.
He got the breakthrough in the third over when a delivery climbed unexpectedly to Shamsur Rahman (6).
Shortly afterwards, Dilshan Munaweera (12) fell to a stunning catch by Nasir Hossain at point before Shakib Al Hasan took out Dawid Malan (16) to leave Barisal tottering on 44 for three.
Shahriar and Mushfiqur then counterattacked.
Shahriar responded with a crisp drive, a well-worked sweep and a late cut through the third man to provide the impetus.
Mushfiqur, who had begun with a scoop off Nasir, joined in by playing his favourite slog over deep midwicket for a six. He followed it up with a ramp over the wicketkeeper’s head.
Shahriar, in particular, looked in complete control, punishing anything that offered room with impeccable timing. He raced to his half-century off just 30 balls as the duo kept dictating the terms in the 51-ball partnership.
Having cracked seven fours and two sixes for 55 runs, Shahriar played on to a wider one from Shahid as the death overs approached. The skipper carried on but quick wickets after that restricted them to the modest total.
But all their efforts paled in comparison to what Maruf had in store.
He opened Dhaka’s batting with Kumar Sangakkara and made an early statement with a powerfully pulled six off Al-Amin Hossain in the second ball of the chase.
He then clubbed another massive six in Al-Amin’s next over with nimble footwork.
He was always very swift to pick the length of the deliveries which helped him get in good position for the shots. On top of that, he timed the ball to perfection to stud his knock with five boundaries and as many sixes.
At the other end, Sangakkara had picked up a couple of boundaries by then, but Maruf’s strokeplay was so attractive that the Sri Lankan legend wanted the 28-year-old batsman to have as much strike as possible.
The pair blasted their way to 50 from just 25 deliveries. Under-pressure the Bulls then became sloppy as a Thisara Perera over went for 16, including three boundaries, a dropped catch and two wides.
Sangakkara survived several streaky shots before Taijul Islam took him out for 30 with one that kept very low to rap him on the pad and end a decisive 88-run stand.
Maruf then added 48 more with Shakib (20). The Dhaka skipper fell 13 runs away from the finish line.
Mosaddek Hossain (10 not out) then hit two more boundaries to wrap up a commanding for his team.
Maruf was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his match-winning knock.
Source: Bd news24
