Dhaka drub Sylhet by 34 runs

Sylhet Super Stars extended their losing streak to four matches in this year’s BPL when Dhaka Dynamites drubbed them by 34 runs at Mirpur.

It was a terrific performance from the Dhaka bowlers as a whole, and they never allowed Sylhet to run away with the match.

Mosharraf Hossain was most successful among his teammates, took three key wickets for only 15 runs in four overs.

Mustafizur Rahman, Abul Hasan and Yasir Shah captured two wickets each.

For Sylhet, Nurul Hasan remainded unbeaten on 35 from 22, but rest of his colleagues couldn’t make any impression with the bat.

Abul Hasan took the last wicket to fall when Fidel Edwards was caught for five in the second-last ball of this match.

Mustafizur Rahman basically polished off the tail with two wickets in his last over. Mohammad Shahid and Nasum Ahmed fell in the same over.

With Sylhet’s chase already derailed, Yasir Shah joined the list of wicket-takers by dismissing Nazmul for 2. 

After Abul Hasan trapped Mushfiqur Rahim in front for 23 in the 13th over, Dhaka were firmly in the driver’s seat in this game.

Mushy tried to pull a ball delivered back of length, but missed it and saw the umpire raise his finger to a vociferous appeal from the Dhaka bowler. 

When Ravi Bopara fell to Mosharraf, the writing was on the wall for the Super Stars.

Mosharraf gave some aire, Bopara went for the sweep, got a top-edge that flew to Malcolm Waller at backward square-leg.

Sylhet’s chase was placed on an uphill struggle after Mosharraf Hossain sent back Mominul Haque for 12 in the ninth over.

With the required run rate climbing with every over, Dhaka kept up the pressure with disciplined bowling from both ends.

After Abul Hasan, Mosharraf Hossain got in the act and sent back another Sylhet batsman.

Mosharraf struck in the seventh over when Josh Cobb went for a slog over mid-wicket, failed to connect and the ball crashed onto the stumps.

Josh scored 15 before being dismissed.

Sylhet Super Stars openers start their chase steadily against Dhaka Dynamites in the 12 th game of BPL-2015 at Mirpur stadium under the lights.

Even though Sylhet lost their in-form batsman Dilshan Munaweera in the fifth over, they were steady to begin the chase of 167.

Munaweera was deceived by Abul Hasan’s slower ball, and scored 16 from 18 balls with three boundaries to his name.

Earlier, Dhaka Dynamites completed their quota of 20 overs with 166 runs for the loss of six wickets against Sylhet Super Stars in the 12th match of BPL-2015.

A sparkling knock from captain Kumar Sangakkara and handy contributions from Nasir Hossain drove Dhaka Dynamites to a challenging total of 166 for the loss of six wickets.

Sanga came back to form with 75 runs from 56 balls. There were nine fours and a massive six in his knock.

Nasir played a useful hand with 30-odd runs in quick time. The Sanga-Nasir partnership basically took Dhaka to their total after tight bowling from Sylhet early on.

Muhammad Shahid was the highest wicket-taker for Super Stars today. He took two for 27 in four overs.

Fidel Edwards, Dilshan Munaweera and Nasum Ahmed took a wicket each

Dhaka Dynamites looked good for a big total with captain Sanga dictating terms at the crease.

He was unbeaten on 74 from 54 by the end of the 18th over, and Dhaka fans would want to see him stay till the end.

Dhaka’s late surge was somewhat stalled by the wicket of Thirimanne two overs after the departure of Nasir Hossain.

Thirimanne was bowled by his countryman Munaweera when the ball sneaked underneath the bat. The Dhaka Dynamites batter scored 13 with two boundaries to his name.

When the match seemed to run away from Sylhet, with Nasir Hossain and Kumar Sangakkara going great guns, Nasum got the crucial breakthrough.

Nasum sent back Nasir for 33, and the Bangladeshi all-rounder played 29 balls, struck three sixes to lift the run-rate as much as possible.

Sylhet fast bowler Fidel Edwards caused further damage when he got rid of Shadman Islam with a sharp, short ball.

Shadman had given himself room probably waiting to play on the off, but the ball was on middle and leg and by the time he got his bat down, the ball had clipped his leg stump bail. He went for 15.

Dhaka Dynamites were rocked early when Sylhet Super Stars opening bowler Muhammad Shahid sent back Shykat Ali of a duck.

Shykat went for the expansive pull but top edged the ball to third man.

Dhaka Dynamites skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss, and didn’t hesitate to bat first on the slow, low pitch at Mirpur against Sylhet Super Stars.

The Sri Lankan legend would want to see some consistency from his star-studded team, and hopes his bowlers can do the job on a wicket that is becoming increasingly difficult to bat on.

Although the Dynamites won their last match against Chittagong Vikings quite convincingly by six wickets, Dhaka’s batting imploded spectacularly on November 25.

Sylhet Super Stars are only the winless team in this competition so far, with three close defeats on the trot against Chittagong, Barisal and Rangpur respectively.

Sylhet may have made the headlines for the wrong reasons, but their captain Mushfiqur Rahim is confident of bouncing back with the local talents on good form.

He would love to see the overseas players Josh Cobb, Ravi Bopara and Ajantha Mendis rediscover their touch and contribute towards the team’s success.

Sylhet Super Stars Team

Abu Sayeem, RS Bopara, JJ Cobb, FH Edwards, BJ Hodge, Junaid Siddique, BAW Mendis, Mohammad Shahid, Mominul Haque, EMDY Munaweera, Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Nasum Ahmed, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Nazmul Islam, Nurul Hasan, OA Shah, Subashis Roy and Suhrawadi Shuvo

Dhaka Dynamites Team

Abul Hasan, Farhad Reza, Irfan Sukkur, Mosaddek Hossain, Mosharraf Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Nabil Samad, Nasir Hossain, Nasir Jamshed, KC Sangakkara (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Shadman Islam, Shamsur Rahman, Shykat Ali, Sohail Khan, RN ten Doeschate, MN Waller and Yasir Shah