Mohammad Nabi is turning out to be Chittagong Vikings’s trump card in this tournament. Including yesterday’s six-wicket win over the Comilla Victorians at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, the Vikings have won three games in the Bangladesh Premier League so far and the Afghanistan all-rounder has played crucial roles in all of them.
In yesterday’s afternoon match, Rajshahi Kings stemmed the tide of three consecutive defeats by posting a three-wicket win over Dhaka Dynamites.
Back to the evening game, chasing a target of 184 the Vikings seemed in trouble at the end of the 14th over. They needed 67 runs from the last six overs with seven wickets in hand and two new batsmen at the crease. However, that is where the game changed.
Mohammad Saifuddin was slammed for three consecutive fours in the first three balls and that over yielded 14 runs. Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was hit for two fours in the next over and the equation came down to 42 required from the last four. Then Nabi started to unleash himself.
He kept clearing his front leg and dispatching the deliveries either over mid-wicket or over cover. He punished Sohail Tanvir with two boundaries in the 17th over and followed that by hitting Mohammad Sharif for a four in the last ball of the 18th over. That brought the equation down to 17 from 12 balls.
While Tanvir came back to dismiss Shoaib Malik in the first ball of the penultimate over for 38, Nabi pulled him for a six over backward square leg in the fifth ball for a six. A nervous Tanvir bowled a beamer in the next ball and further leaked runs.
With eight runs required off the last over, Nabi gleefully hit Saifuddin for a four and a six in the first two balls and took Chittagong home in style. In the process, he completed his half-century off 25 balls.
Earlier, Khalid Latif led a brilliant batting performance for the Comilla Victorians. He laid the foundation for the Victorians with a quick 53-ball 76. He hit five sixes and six fours. He was well supported by Imrul Kayes and Ahmed Shehzad.
While Imrul hit 36 off 26 with one six and three fours, Shahzad hammered 40 off 25 balls with five fours. Taskin Ahmed was the lone wicket-taker for the Chittagong Vikings. He was however quite expensive, finishing with figures of 1 for 44 in his four.
Comilla lost Nazmul Hossain Shanto as early as the fifth over of the match. His replacement Imrul though joined hands with Latif to score 68 runs in eight overs for the second wicket. Imrul was the more dominant partner scoring, scoring 36. A direct hit from Tamim Iqbal in the 13th over ended his knock.
Latif unleashed himself after Imrul got out. He dismissed Mohammad Nabi for three sixes in the 14th over. The first one was creamed over mid-wicket, the second one — which brought up his 50 off 38 balls — was smashed over long on, while third was hit over backward square leg.
He clubbed Shahidul Alam for another six in the next over and by over number 15, Comilla were poised for a good finish at 137 for two.
Shahzad joined in the act, hitting Taskin Ahmed for two fours in the 17th over. Latif eventually did get run out in the last over, but his replacement ensured that the runs continued to flow. Ryan ten Doeschate hit Taskin for a six in that over while Shahzad finished the innings with a four to help them cross the 180-mark.
Source: The Daily Star
