Mukidul fifer and Russell blitz help Comilla extend winning run
Comilla Victorians pacer Mukidul Islam picked up the first five-wicket haul of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League and all-rounder Andre Russel's blistering cameo helped Comilla Victorians to extend their marauding run with a five-wicket victory over Fortune Barishal at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Mukidul returned with figures of five for 23 to restrict Fortune Barishal to 121, and Russel smashed three sixes and two fours for his unbeaten 16-ball 30 in the chase to guide Comilla to an eighth successive win after losing the first three matches of the tournament.
After being sent into bat first, Barishal managed to post a subpar 121 where Mahmudullah Riyad top-scored with a 26-ball 36. In addition to this, Barishal had in-form Karim Janat score a steady 26-ball 32 not out which stood out in what was a dismal batting effort from Shakib Al Hasan-led Barishal.
Mukidul stole the show in the first innings as he emerged as the chief destroyer with a fifer picking up key wickets in the form of Shakib, Mahmudullah, Janat, Chaturanga de Silva, and Mohammad Wasim Jr breaking the spine of Barishal's batting.
The ever-so-reliable left-arm spin of Tanvir Islam shone yet again as he picked up one wicket for 29 runs, and Russel chipped with one scalp.
Comilla's chase was jittered early on as they lost in-form Mohammad Rizwan for 11 in the second over to Wasim, number three Jaker Ali struggled to get going chewing up 16 balls for just 10 runs before being put out of his misery by Shakib.
Comilla batters found it difficult to keep the scoreboard ticking courtesy of some tight bowling and sharp fielding by Barishal.
A similar trend of getting bogged down got to Comilla skipper Imrul Kayes as he nicked one to the keeper of Khaled Ahmed leaving his side three down for 54 in the 10th over.
In came Mosaddek Hossain but his stay at the crease was a short one as he perished for just one but Pakistan recruit Khushdil Shah and T20 veteran Russell put together a 48-run in quick time to take their team home with nine balls to spare. Khushdil remained unbeaten scoring a vigilant 19-ball 23.