Comilla blow away Barisal by 8 wickets

Comilla Victorians romped to victory over Barisal Bulls by eight wickets with 12 balls in the bag in the 8th Match of BPL-2015 at Mirpur tonight.

Marlon Samuels and Shuvagata Hom took their team home with their unbeaten partnership of 30 runs for the third wicket.

Samuels managed 23 from 38 and Shuvagata stroked 12 from 13 balls and won without any fuss.

Al-Amin and Kevin Cooper captured a wicket each but didn’t find enough support from the other bowlers.

Comilla Victorians lost their second wicket with only 30 runs left to get in the match against Barisal Bulls.

Kevin Cooper dismissed Mahmudul for a well-made 31 from 43 balls with four boundaries in his knock.

Victorians batter tried to clear his front leg, swat the ball over cover but only managed to hit it straight down the throat of Mahmudullah.

Comilla Victorians lost their opener Imrul Kayes early in their chase against Barisal Bulls.

Barisal’s hat-trick hero in the last match Al-Amin Hossain gave his team the first breakthrough when he sent back Imrul Kayes for 13.

Imrul looked to step out and smack Al-Amin’s delivery into the stands at deep midwicket, but the ball got too big on him and he only managed to balloon a simple catch to the fielder.

Earlier, Barisal Bulls crashed to 89 all out against a professional Comilla Victorians side led brilliantly by captain Mashrafe Mortaza.

Sunil Narine hammered the last nail in Barisal’s coffin when he sent back Mohammad Sami for 6 runs in the 19th over of the match. Sami missed his swing and saw the furniture disturbed.

Kulasekara picked up his third wicket by trapping Kevin Cooper in front. Cooper kept Barisal’s hopes alive, but couldn’t score than 22 runs in the end.

He was the top-scorer for Barisal on this dreadful night.

The Sri Lankan bowler had a fantastic night, gave away only eight runs in three tight overs.

Taijul Islam was run out for three, and was his dismissal was symbolic of the shoddy performance by Barisal batters.

By the time Ashar Ziadi claimed his third victim, Barisal innings had run out of steam. He bowled Nadif Chowdhury for seven to pile on the misery for the Bulls.

Zaidi finished his four overs with three for 16 to destroy Barisal’s lower-middle order.

Ashar Zaidi rocked Barisal with two crucial wickets, that too in consecutive deliveries.

First he removed the talented Sabbir Rahman with a ball that skidded and kept low. Sabbir got an under-edge to fall for 10 runs.

Next ball saw the back of Seekkuge Prasanna when the Barisal batter had a brain-freeze. Prasanna tried to slog a nicely tossed up delivery out of the park, but only managed to hit the ball to the long-on fielder.

Rony Talukdar’s dismissal sent the cat among the pigeons as far as Barisal was concerned, as they got themselves stuck in a rut with irresponsible batting.

Abu Hider took his second victim as Rony tried to hit his way out of frustration. Rony scored 17 from 22 balls with two fours to his name. 

Hider got the big wicket of Barisal skipper Mahmudullah with a peach of a delivery. Hider’s yorker swung back in from off and crashed into middle stump to the delight of Comilla players.

Mahmudullah managed to get nine runs from 13 balls before he was sent back to the dressing room. 

Nuwan Kulasekara took two wickets in three balls to hurt Barisal Bulls early in the 8 th match of BPL-2015 at Mirpur.

Brendan Taylor was the second wicket to fall, when he prodded at a ball on off-stump only to edge it behind to Dhiman Ghosh for a two-ball duck.

Shahriar Nafees stay at the crease was short-lived. He was drawn forward by a good ball from the Sri Lankan pacer, tried to drive but managed a thin edge to the keeper. 

Barisal Bulls captain Mahmudullah Riyad won the toss, and decided to bat first against Comilla Victorians tonight.

Comilla Victorians pulled off a thriller last night courtesy their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, whie Barisal Bulls defended 108 courtesy Al-Amin's hat-trick.

On that count, we should, hopefully, be in for another thrill-a-minute ride tonight.

May the best team win!

Barisal Bulls

Shahriar Nafees, Rony Talukdar, BRM Taylor (Wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah (Captain), Sabbir Rahman, Nadif Chowdhury, KK Cooper, Mohammad Sami, Taijul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, S Prasanna, Sharifullah, Sajedul Islam, Mehedi Maruf, CH Gayle, E Lewis, N Dutta and Imad Wasim

Comilla Victorians

Imrul Kayes, Shuvagata Hom, Mahmudul Hasan, Alok Kapali, Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), MN Samuels, SP Narine, Ashar Zaidi, KMDN Kulasekara, Abu Hider, Dhiman Ghosh (Wicketkeeper), Ariful Haque, Naeem Islam jnr, AD Russell, Ahmed Shehzad, K Santokie, DI Stevens, Liton Das