Parvez Hossain Emon's stormy fifty was followed by an aggressive innings by Haider Ali and Shamim Hossain Patwary. Chittagong Kings got a big capital of 200 runs. Then David Malan and Mahmudullah Riyad tried, but Fortune Barisal had to stop far from the target.
Chittagong won the last match of the BPL league phase at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday by 24 runs. Batting first after losing the toss, they scored 206 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. In reply, the reigning champions Barisal were restricted to 182 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.
With this win, Chittagong has moved up to second place in the points table, surpassing Rangpur Riders. Although the two teams have equal points at 16 from 12 matches, Chittagong (+1.395) is ahead of Rangpur (+0.596) in terms of net run rate. As a result, Chittagong has made it to the first qualifier of the play-off stage. There, their opponent is Barisal, who are at the top with 18 points.
Barisal and Chittagong will face off again at the same venue next Monday. The winner will advance directly to the final. The loser will get another chance to reach the title-deciding stage by playing in the second qualifier.
Chittagong added 58 runs in 6.5 overs to the opening pair. This laid the foundation for a good collection for them. Opener Khawaja Nafae returned to 22 off 19 balls, but another opener, Emon, continued to attack. He was more focused on hitting sixes than fours. When Emon reached his fifty off 31 balls, he had six sixes to his name, but not a single four.
Emon departed with a 70-run partnership off just 36 balls with Graham Clark. He played an innings of 75 runs off 41 balls. He hit a four and eight sixes from his bat. Clarke returned in a short time. He scored 26 runs off 21 balls. Captain Mohammad Mithun could not survive. He needed 4 balls to score 1 run.
Pakistani Haider, who was already in a fighting mood after getting out for four, was overtaken by Shamim as he came to the crease. The duo's performance took Chittagong's total past 200. He remained unbeaten on 30 off 12 balls in an unbroken partnership of 40 runs off 19 balls. He hit three fours and two sixes. Haider remained unbeaten on 42 off 23 balls with three sixes and a four.
Taijul Islam was poor for Barisal, taking 2 wickets. He conceded 46 runs in four overs. The rest of the team's bowlers also faced the onslaught of the opponent's batters. However, Ibadat Hossain was an exception. He took 1 wicket for just 19 runs in four overs.
Chasing the target, Barisal came under pressure after losing both openers for 13 runs. Captain Tamim Iqbal could not open the scorebook after playing 6 balls. Towhid Hridoy was stopped for 9 off 11 balls. The title holders could only accumulate 30 runs on the scoreboard in the powerplay after a slow start.
Then English batter Malan pulled the team together. First he put on 53 runs off 31 balls with Mushfiqur Rahim and then 56 runs off 26 balls with Mahmudullah. But the equation is always difficult for Barisal due to the slow start. They could not match that.
Malan scored 67 runs off 34 balls with five fours and six sixes. Mahmudullah remained unbeaten on 41 runs off 24 balls. He hit two fours and a six each. Mushfiqur was dismissed for 24 runs off 22 balls. For Chittagong, Sri Lankan Binura Fernando and Alish Al Islam took two wickets each. Arafat Sunny and Khaled Ahmed took one wicket each.
