Barisal beat Dhaka by 18 runs

Barisal Bulls advanced to the second qualifier against Rangpur Riders on December 13, Sunday when they defeated Dhaka Dynamites by 18 runs tonight.

Chasing only 136, Dhaka never got off the blocks, lost wickets at crucial moments and was eliminated from BPL-2015.

Several of Dhaka batters got their eyes in, but failed to convert the twenties and thirties into something more substantial. Mosaddek was the highest scorer with 26 runs.

For Barisal, it was a near perfect day with the ball. Both Al-Amin and Kevin Cooper picked up three wickets each and conceded less than five runs per over. Taijul Islam took two wickets late in the innings.

Al-Amin hammered the last nail into Dhaka’s coffin with his third wicket of the night. The Barisal bowler sent back Nasir Hossain in the 16th over.

Nasir tried to heave a full ball on off with all his might, lost his shape with the violent stroke and gave a catch to Mahmudullah. Dhaka allrounder scored 16 from 18 balls, but looked horribly out of touch at the crease.

Al-Amin struck again in the tenth over, and got the crucial wicket of the in-form Sanga. Dhaka skipper was caught and bowled for ten.

Sanga’s departure gave Barisal the optimism of defending their total tonight.

Dhaka’s Farhad Reza spent 38 minutes at the wicket, got his eye in but threw away his wicket with a reckless drive of Al-Amin Hossain.

Farhad got an outside edge, and departed after scoring 20 runs. A wicket gifted to Barisal, what a needless shot from Dhaka’s opener!

Kevin Cooper gave the Bulls the upper hand with his second wicket when he struck in the sixth over.

Dhaka lost their important wicket of Mohammad Hafeez for just one run. Hafeez tried to play the front-foot pull shot and got a top-edge that flew to Mehedi at mid-wicket.

Dhaka Dynamites lost their makeshift opener Abul Hasan for 11 runs when Kevin Cooper dismissed him in the fourth over.

Abul tried to slog the slightly slower ball from Cooper out of Dhaka but got a top-edge instead. Gayle held on to the catch and the wicket gave a spring in the steps of Barisal bowlers.

Earlier, Dhaka captain Kumar Sangakkara brought in the changes, used eight bowlers and was successful in keeping Barisal down to a manageable total of 135 runs.

Mustafizur picked two wickets for 21 in four overs. Nasir and Nabil grabbed a wicket each.

Sabbir Rahman was the top-scorer for Barisal with his 41 runs.

Mahmudullah, captain of Barisal tried to score quickly in the end, but found the loose balls too few for his liking. He became Mustafizur’s second victim of the night.

Bulls skipper scored 37 from 33 balls with four fours in his innings.

Barisal Bulls were in a spot of bother after they lost two wickets in three overs, with Dhaka bowlers coming back into this contest.

The 13th over saw Sabbir Rahman of Barisal throw away his wicket after spending good time at the crease. Sabbir scored 41 from 39 balls with three fours and three sixes, but needed to anchor the innings.

Nabi Samad sent back Sabbir to stall Bulls’ progress.

Mustafizur Rahman does it for Dhaka! He gets the big wicket of Chris Gayle with a ripper. The left-arm pacer’s cutter on off sneaked through Gayle’s defence and hits timber.

Gayle was looking dangerous tonight, and smashed 31 from 19 balls. He entertained the Mirpur crowd with four fours and two towering sixes from his chunky bat.

Although Chris Gayle lost his partner, it didn’t stop him from launching a brutal counterattack on the Dhaka bowlers.

He was particularly ruthless against Mosaddek, and smashed the Dhaka spinner for 30 runs in two overs of mayhem at Mirpur.

Dhaka Dynamites tasted success early when Nasir Hossain removed Barisal opener Rony Talukdar for four runs.

Rony went down the track, skied the ball to the on-side when Waller made no mistake. He fell in the first over.

Dhaka Dynamites skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to field against Barisal Bulls in the eliminator of BPL-2015

The third and fourth placed teams in the points table lock horns for the eliminator tonight, with Barisal Bulls and Dhaka Dynamites in for a cracker of a match at Mirpur.

Barisal Bulls would have the momentum of their miraculous victory over Dhaka on December 10 to give them confidence as Rayad Emrit turned around what was an impossible situation for the Bulls.

Yet they know very well that Dhaka had fielded a weaker side, since their place in the top-four was guaranteed after Sylhet’s loss.

Dhaka have lost their last two matches, and need to pull up their socks in all departments if they want to give Barisal a run for their money.

Dynamites skipper would be pleased with his bowlers, but batting remains the main concern for this team.

Whoever loses tonight will wave goodbye to their BPL-2015 season.

May the best team win!

Barisal Bulls

Al-Amin Hossain, KK Cooper, N Dutta, RR Emrit, CH Gayle, E Lewis, Mahmudullah (Captain), Mehedi Maruf, Mohammad Sami, Nadif Chowdhury, S Prasanna, Rony Talukdar, Sabbir Rahman, Sharifullah, Sohag Gazi, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Taijul Islam, BRM Taylor (Wicketkeeper)

Dhaka Dynamites

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

Barisal batters hope for a good show in the final match today.File Photo: STAR