Dhaka pound Chittagong by 45 runs

Dhaka Dynamites came back to winnings ways after two consecutive defeats when they trounced Chittagong Vikings by 45 runs in the 25th match of BPL-2015 at Mipur.

It was the bowlers for Dhaka who raised their game, and kept taking wickets at regular intervals.

Mosharraf Hossain was the star performer, and his four wickets for 16 runs in four overs did it for his team. Mustafizur Rahman took two while Abul Hasan and Yasir Shah captured a wicket each.

For Chittagong, only Umar Akmal, Elias Sunny and Bilawal Bhatti reached double figures, and the batting collapse explained Chittagong’s poor run this year.

As Ziaur Rahman was absent hurt, Mustafizur took the last Chittagong wicket to fall. Bilawal was caught in the deep, and the entire Dhaka team gathered around the bowler to celebrate today’s triumph.

Chittagong faced an uphill task to reach Dhaka’s total after early wickets made it more difficult for the Vikings to score.

Yasir Shah bamboozled Anamul with his leg-spin, and finally the batter gave in and was caught and bowled for nine.

The 14th over of Chittagong’s chase basically sealed their fate as Dhaka’s Mosharraf Hossain took three crucial wickets.

Shafiul Islam went for a bold stroke, but watched Mustafizur Rahman at cover pull off a stunner to send him back for naught. Mosharraf cannot believe his luck!

Mohammad Amir lasted only a single ball as his slog-sweep of Mosharraf wasn’t good enough to beat the fielder at deep midwicket.

Mosharraf Hossain got his second wicket of the match when Elias Sunny was trapped in front for 10. Sunny went for the reverse sweep but the ball struck him on the pad and then on the ribcage.

Vikings lost their fourth wicket before the ninth over, and their target seemed to get away from them with each quiet over.

Anamul Haque gifted Dhaka a wicket when he ran out his partner Yasir Ali in the fifth over. Yasir couldn’t beat the throw and left the field shaking his head in disappointment.

Mustafizur Rahman got BPL-2015’s highest run-getter, captain of Chittagong Tamim Iqbal for only eight runs in the third over. Tamim was shocked when the umpire raised his finger, but the ball struck him in line with off, plus bounce was low.

Chittagong’s dashing opener Dilshan failed to fire today, and lasted only five balls. He came walking down the track to Abul Hasan, got an inside edge and then the ball struck the stumps.

After helping his captain consolidate the innings, Mosaddek Hossain couldn’t carry on and fell in the next ball after Sanga departed.

His 24 runs from 29 balls were critical in the context of the game, but his side would have wanted to see him bat till the end.

The fifth-wicket stand was finally stopped at 56 runs when a spectacular catch at the boundary by Umar Akmal sent back Kumar Sangakkara for 38 handy runs.

Dhaka’s captain Sanga kept one end secured during his stay at the wicket, and faced 36 balls, struck three fours and a six. Shafiul returned late in the innings to give his side the vital breakthrough.

Dhaka found some respite with Sanga and Mosaddek at the crease, and the duo set about repairing the early damage inflicted by the Vikings.

Dhaka Dynamites’ top-order was basically blown away by the eighth over when Bilawal Bhatti of Chittagong got his first wicket of the match.

Dhaka were four down with thirty-something on the board when Nasir Hossain departed for 10 runs. Nasir tried the upper cut but got an outside edge to Anamul.

Chittagong were all over Dhaka, but Dynamites had skipper Sanga at the crease, who is the second highest run-getter in this year’s BPL.

Mohammad Amir got the taste of poetic justice when he sent back Mohammad Hafeez when the batsman made a fatal error of judgment.

Hafeez tried to leave the ball going away but got a faint touch to the keeper Anamul. Amir couldn’t be happier…and expresses it fist pump, simply brilliant!

Shafiul Islam of Chittagong was incredibly effective with his cutters, and made Shykat Ali look absolutely clueless before he was dismissed.

Shykat got bogged down, wasted 13 balls for three runs.

Dhaka’s makeshift opener Yasir Shah couldn’t really get going and lasted only nine balls. He scored ten runs before he fell to Asif Hasan in the third over.

Chittagong’s fast and medium fast bowlers kept the batsmen guessing with clever change of pace, and their short of good length balls were not easy to hit on the slightly bouncy wicket at Mirpur.

Chittagong’s bowlers must come good today, considering the unpredictable nature of their batsmen. If the batsmen cannot score and score quickly, then the Vikings can kiss this tournament goodbye.

Dhaka Dynamites captain Sanga wants to end the two-game losing streak, and knows that any more slip-ups will push them out of contention for the knock-outs.

Today’s game will decide the fate of the Vikings for sure, and if lose, then the top four teams to qualify for the next round will be more or less fixed.

Chittagong Vikings skipper Tamim Iqbal won the toss and wanted to field first against Dhaka Dynamites led by Kumar Sangakkara in the 25 th match of BPL-2015.

Chittagong Vikings

Tamim Iqbal (Captain), TM Dilshan, Anamul Haque (Wicketkeeper), Umar Akmal, Ziaur Rahman, Yasir Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Elias Sunny, Shafiul Islam, Mohammad Amir, Asif Hasan, CK Kapugedera, Asif Ahmed, BMAJ Mendis, Taskin Ahmed, Enamul Haque jnr, Naeem Islam and  E Chigumbura

Dhaka Dynamites

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

Chittagong players celebrate a fall of wicket in BPL-2015. File Photo: STAR