Chittagong Vikings batsman Mushfiqur Rahim plays a shot during their Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 match against Comilla Victorians at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday. — New Age photo
Chittagong Vikings skipper Mushfiqur Rahim’s 75 off 41 balls outclassed Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera’s unbeaten 74 off 26 balls as Chittagong beat Comilla Victorians by four wickets in a nail-biting encounter in Mirpur on Sunday.
Mushfiq, who was yet to fire in the tournament, took the last match of Dhaka phase by storm as he smashed seven fours and four sixes to complete his first fifty in the ongoing BPL and powered Chittagong to their third win in the tournament.
Chittagong also had their Afghan recruit Mohammad Shahzad to thank as he made a quick-fire 46 off 27 deliveries that set the tone of their chase and their South African all-rounder Robbie Frylinck hit Liam Dawson for a six to take them to 186-6 with two balls to spare.
Earlier, Perera, who joined Comilla on Sunday morning, made an immediate impact by smashing eight sixes and three fours to lift Comilla to 184-5 after they were reduced to 86-5 in the 14th over.
Chittagong needed 38 runs off the last three overs when Mushfiq took Abu Hider for 14 runs in the 18th over to give them some momentum.
Comilla bounced back in the next over when Mohammad Saifuddin dismissed Mosaddek Hossain (12) in the first ball but ended up bowling two no-balls and conceding 17 runs in the over.
Although Mushfiq lost his wicket to Saifuddin in the very last ball of the penultimate over, he left Chittagong requiring just seven of the last over.
Earlier, sent into bat Comilla lost Tamim Iqbal (0) in the second ball of their innings while Anamul Haque became the first victim of pacer Abu Jayed after scoring 10 runs.
Comilla skipper Imrul Kayes and Lewis put up 54-run for the third wicket to get Comilla out of the initial hassle but Khaled Ahmed took three quick wickets to bring Chittagong back in the contest.
Lewis had to leave the field on stretcher after sustaining a hamstring injury in the 12th over and could not return to the field.
However, Perera who was in destructive mood, hit Sunzamul Islam for three sixes in the 16th over before taking Frylinck for 30 runs with four sixes and a four.
Saifuddin also played a crucial unbeaten knock of 26 off 19 balls and was involved in a 98-run unbeaten stand with Perera but that was not enough for Comilla at the end.
SCORECARD
Comilla Victorians innings
Tamim c Shahzad b Frylinck0
E Lewis retired hurt 38
Anamul c Frylinck b Jayed10
Imrul b Khaled 24
LA Dawson b Khaled 2
Afridi b Khaled 2
Saifuddin not out 26
T Perera not out 74
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 6)8
Total (five wickets, 20 Overs) 184
Did not bat: Abu Hider, Ziaur Rahman, Mahedi Hasan
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Tamim), 2-21 (Anamul), 3-75 (Imrul), 4-77 (LA Dawson), 5-86 (Afridi)
Bowling
Frylinck 4 1 49 1
Nayeem 4 0 20 0
Jayed 4 0 41 1
Khaled 4 0 34 3
Mosaddek 2 0 13 0
Sunzamul 2 0 25 0
Chittagong Vikings innings
Shahzad c Dawson b Afridi46
CS Delport c Tamim b Saifuddin 13
Yasir Ali lbw b Perera4
Mushfiq c Tamim b Saifuddin75
N Zadran c Tamim b Mahedi 13
Mosaddek c Afridi b Saifuddin12
R Frylinck not out9
Nayeem not out1
Extras (lb 4, nb 2, w 7) 13
Total (six wickets,19.4 Overs) 186
Did not bat: Khaled Ahmed, Sunzamul Islam, Abu Jayed
Fall of wickets: 1-58 (CS Delport), 2-64 (Yasir Ali), 3-70 (Shahzad), 4-117 (Najibullah), 5-161 (Mosaddek), 6-178 (Mushfiq)
Bowling
Hider 3 0 30 0
Mahedi 4 0 30 1
Saifuddin 4 0 45 3
Dawson 2.4 0 34 0
Afridi 4 0 15 1
T Perera 2 0 28 1
Result: Chittagong Vikings won by 4 wickets
Man of the match: Mushfiqur Rahim (Chittagong Vikings)
Toss: Chittagong Vikings
Source: New Age.
