Comilla Victorians became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the Bangladesh Premier League when they thrashed Barisal Bulls by seven wickets in Dhaka on Monday.
Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad struck an unbeaten 76 off 63 balls, the highest for the Victorians so far in the tournament, which was enough for the side to sail home after their bowlers had restricted Bulls to 105-6.
Shehzad made batting look very easy on a difficult pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, hitting 10 fours and a six in his sublime knock that denied Bulls any opportunity to push for a win despite making an early inroads.
Victorians’ openers Imrul Kayes and Liton Das both scored duck and former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, their man of the match in the previous match, did just little better to depart for eight runs.
But Shehzad and Ashar Zaidi shared 58 runs in an unbroken fourth wicket stand as the side reached 106-3 with 15 balls to spare to earn their sixth win in the tournament.
Zaidi was happy to play the second fiddle to Shehzad, staying unbeaten on 20 off 18 balls, which included a four and a six.
Bulls were left ruing their poor luck as a crucial umpiring decision went against them when Zaidi was declared not out despite replay suggesting that he gloved a Rayad Emrit ball on eight.
Trinidadian all-rounder Emrit replaced Mohammad Sami in the starting lineup but could do little to lift the morale of the side after they were dismissed for tournament’s lowest 58 runs in the previous match.
‘I tried to make every opportunity count as much as possible. I would have loved to have won today but that’s how it goes,’ Emrit later told reporters.
‘It is not the best of wickets for T20. It is very difficult to start for a batter and to bat first, especially. We batted first in both games and you see the results.’
Bulls won their all three matches in Chittagong leg and looked to be cruising towards semi-finals before Twenty20 superstars Chris Gayle joined the side to boost their squad before second leg in Dhaka.
But Gayle failed to produce any sparkle for the second time in a row as he was trapped leg-before by Malik for eight after a cautious start.
Victorians never looked back after getting the prized scalp of Gayle and made regular breakthroughs to keep their target within the reach. Zaidi claimed highest 2-12 while Malik, Abu Haider, Darren Stevens and Kamrul Islam grabbed one wicket each.
Brief Scores
Barisal Bulls 105-6 in 20 overs (Mahmudullah 26; Zaidi 2-12) v Comilla Victorians 106-3 in 17.3 overs (Shehzad 76 not out, Zaidi 20 not out)
Result: Comilla Victorians won by 7 wickets.
Man of the match: Ahmed Shehzad (CV)
Source: New Age