Spectacular Tamim smashes ton a day after extending T20I hiatus

Lendl Simmons' hundred went in vain as Tamim Iqbal overpowered Sylhet Sunrisers with a magnificent unbeaten century to help Minister Group Dhaka register a comprehensive nine-wicket win in a Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.

Just a day after making himself unavailable for T20Is in Bangladesh's colors, Tamim registered his second century of the BPL as he remained unbeaten on 111 off just 64 balls, laced with 17 boundaries and four maximums, to help Dhaka to their second win in five games in the ongoing tournament.

Chasing a challenging 176-run target, Dhaka rode on an incredible 173-run opening stand between Tamim and Mohammad Shahzad to get over the line with 18 deliveries to spare. This is also the second-best opening stand in BPL's history. 

Shahzad who wanted to hit the winning runs in style was caught off an Alauddin Babu delivery when Dhaka needed only three more to win. The Afghan opener supported Tamim ably and scored a 39-ball 53, featuring seven fours and a six.

Tamim, however, was lucky at times as he was dropped on naught by Mohammad Mithun at slip off the bowling of Taskin Ahmed in the first over of the innings. 

Since then Tamim played some gorgeous strokes all across the ground and took only 28 balls to reach his fifty. 

Tamim was also dropped twice in the same over when he was batting on 71 runs. But the exquisite left-hander capitalised on the opportunity and went on to register his fourth T20 hundred off just 61 balls with a gorgeous cover drive. 

Earlier, Lendl Simmons struck the maiden hundred of the ongoing eighth edition of the BPL to help Sylhet Sixers post a challenging total of 175 for five after being sent to bat. 

It was the second T20 hundred for Simmons. The right-hander brought up his century in style as he smashed Ebadot Hossain for a boundary to reach the three-figure mark off just 59 deliveries.

Courtesy of Simmons' carnage, Sylhet went on to add 51 runs in the last five overs of the innings. 

However, Tamim's blistering knock saw Simmons becoming only the fourth batter to be on the losing side despite scoring a ton in BPL's history.