Chittagong Vikings hope of progressing to the knock-out phase of BPL-2015 took a terrible blow when they were humbled by 33 runs by Barisal Bulls at ZAC stadium this evening.

Chittagong’s chase never really got going as Barisal pegged them back with regular wickets.

Before the tenth over of their chase, Vikings lost half their side and were out of this contest.

For Barisal, the bowlers performed beautifully, and hardly allowed the opposing batters to take control at any moment.

Kevin Cooper was the highest wicket-taker with three for 28 from four overs. Al-Amin picked two while Sami and Taijul took one each.

For Chittagong it was a batting nightmare in front of their supporters, and none of their batters could carry on after getting a start.

Naeem Islam scored 38 from 40 but couldn’t hit the big shots when needed.

Shafiul and Enamul fell in the last over in search for boundaries, but by then Barisal fans were dancing in the aisles.

Naeem Islam went in the same over to bring Barisal bring closer to a resounding victory.

Amir was out in the 19th over after playing some entertaining shots, and his 20 from 12 balls with two sixes gave the home fans something to cheer about.

Mohammad Sami sealed Chittagong Vikings’ fate in the 14th over, as his short, sharp ball was too good for Ziaur Rahman.

Ziaur managed 13 from 13, but his team needed much more to come back in this match already running away from the Vikings.

Chigumbura’s horrible day was topped off with a dismal show with the bat, as the Zimbabwe cricketer scratched around for 11 balls, scored five and was sent back by Cooper in the tenth over.

By now, Barisal were firmly in control and looked certain for a deserving win at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

Anamul Haque wretched BPL-2015 continued with another low score, and failed to read Al-Amin slower ball to be dismissed for 12.

The Chittagong batter came down the track, made a mess of his shot and was comfortably caught by Nadif. Vikings were all at sea after losing wickets repeatedly.

Chittagong’s slide continued with the wicket of Dilshan in the fifth over. The Sri Lankan allrounder smacked 19 from 12 before he was dismissed by Taijul Islam.

Dilshan came down the pitch but dragged his shot, and was safely held at long-on by Mohammad Sami.

Disaster struck Chittagong in the third over when their Pakistan recruit Kamran Akmal was run-out after facing a single delivery

Kevin Cooper of Barisal swooped on the ball and his bullet-throw from mid-on found the batter short of his ground, although Kamran didn’t slide his bat in. Terrible running!

Barisal Bulls pacer Al-Amin rocked Chittagong Vikings early when he sent back the in-form Tamim Iqbal for six in his second over.

Tamim wanted to play a forceful shot over the leg side but only managed to tamely lob the ball to mid-on after staying for seven minutes at the wicket. 

Earlier, Barisal Bulls managed to put up 170 on the board against Chittagong Vikings mainly due to a captain’s knock from Mahmudullah and a well-timed cameo from Prasanna.

Mahmudullah came to the crease after the early fall of wickets, played sensibly and accelerated in the end to finish on 51 from 45 balls with three fours and a six.

Prasanna gave some much needed impetus late in the innings with some clean hitting. He clobbered four sixes in his 36.

For Chittagong, it was an impressive performance from the bowlers, but captain Tamim wouldn’t be too pleased about the death overs when some of his bowlers lost the plot.

Mohammad Amir and Ziaur Rahman both took two wickets to hurt Barisal. Dilshan, Chigumbura and Shafiul picked up a wicket each.

Mahmudullah was the last man out for Barisal when Chigumbura sent back the Bulls captain for 51 in the 19th over.

Mohammad Amir returned in the 17th over to polish off the Barisal tail. He collected his second wicket of the match when Prasanna was caught at long-on after a timely cameo.

Prasanna and Mahmudullah kept Barisal’s hopes for a big total alive, and the Sri Lankan batted handsomely to score 36 from 20 balls, with a boundary and four massive sixes.

Barisal’s day got bad to worse after Ziaur Rahman struck again, and gave his captain the confidence to keep the Bulls on the mat.

Nadir Chowdhury became Ziaur’s second victim of the day when he was trapped in front for seven. The ball skidded through and Nadif was late in his stroke.

Mehedi Maruf tried to resurrect Barisal Bull’s innings with some positive batting, but his promising knock was stopped at 28 by Chittagong’s Ziaur Rahman in the tenth over.

Maruf threw the kitchen sink at a slower ball, and was caught at deep square leg. He faced 25 balls, struck a four and two sixes.

Shafiul Islam got on the act and placed Chittagong firmly in the driver’s seat against Barisal.

His fullish ball tailed in, sneaked through Sabbir’s bat and struck the Barisal batter in front of middle and leg.

Sabbir Rahman failed to score, and failed to live up to the expectations once again.

Mohammad Amir continued in his rich vein of form, and dismissed the plucky Rony Talukdar for a duck with his second ball and sent the Bulls reeling.

The ball pitched on leg and that looked out for all money. Rony played around that and did not pick that direction of swing. Terrific start from Amir and Vikings!

Dilshan struck with the third ball of this match when Barisal’s Evin Lewis played back, got struck on leg and saw the umpire rule in the bowler’s favour.

Replays showed the ball might have been going down leg, but Chittagong will take the early wicket, Lewis gone for four.

Chittagong Vikings skipper Tamim Iqbal is aware of the importance of this game, considering his side is currently sitting second from bottom.

Vikings need to win, and may begin a run in front of their home crowd.

Barisal Bulls captain Mahmudullah Riyad knows that we have reached the business end of this year’s BPL and the heat is on for all sides.

He would love his batsmen to fire at the top, since the lower-middle order cannot bail them out time and time again.

Tamim: "Looks a good wicket. Three changes, Elton for Jeevan. Kamran for Ajmal and a young left-armer comes in for Yasir."

Mahmudullah: "We would have bowled first as well. We would like to have a go at a chase. Two changes. Taylor is not playing. Mehedi Maruf comes in."

Chittagong Vikings

Tamim Iqbal (Captain), TM Dilshan, Anamul Haque (Wicketkeeper), Naeem Islam, Mohammad Amir, Ziaur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Enamul Haque jnr, Asif Hasan, E Chigumbura and Kamran Akmal

Barisal Bulls

S Prasanna, KK Cooper, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Sami, Al-Amin Hossain, Nadif Chowdhury, Evin Lewis, Rony Talukdar (Wicketkeeper), Mehedi Maruf, Sabbir Rahman and Mahmudullah (Captain)

Chittagong players celebrate the fall of a wicket in BPL-2015. File Photo: STAR