Moeen hattrick, Jacks ton power Comilla to big win

Moeen Ali claimed a hattrick after Will Jacks hit a blistering century as Comilla Victorians blew away Chattogram Challengers, completing a comprehensive 73-run win on the opening day of the Chattogram phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) today.

Jacks scored an unbeaten 108 off 53 balls while skipper Liton Das hit a brisk 60 off 31 balls and Moeen hit a quickfire 53 not out off 24 balls as Comilla posted 239-3, the joint highest total ever in BPL history.

Comilla matched Rangpur Riders' score of 239-4 which they made against Chittagong Vikings in the 2019 edition also at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

Comilla's spin duo of Moeen and Rishad Hossain then claimed four wickets each to bundle out Chattogram for 166 in 16.3 overs.

The hosts had gotten off to a good start, with the opening stand of Tanzid Hasan Tamim (41 off 24) and Josh Brown (36 off 23) yielding 80 off 45 deliveries.

But then Rishad claimed three wickets in quick succession to take the steam out of their chase.

Shykat Ali hit five sixes and one four in his 11-ball 36-run knock but the rest of the batters couldn't keep up with the climbing required rate.

Moeen claimed the final three wickets of the innings in the first three balls of the 17th over to complete an impressive win for the defending champions.

With the win, Comilla are now second in the points table with 12 points while Chattogram are in third position with 10 points.