Tamim Iqbal-led Fortune Barishal took a solo lead to reach qualifiers of the seven-team Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Cricket with one match to spare, crushing Dhaka Capitals by five wickets with 81 balls remaining at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Wednesday.
After the day’s well merited victory, Fortune Barishal have secured the highest 18 points from 11 matches to reach the qualifiers as one of the two best teams in the league.
Rangpur Riders are in the second slot to confirm the four-team play-off berth collecting 16 points from 11 matches.
In the remaining league match, Fortune Barishal will play Chittagong Kings on February 1 while Rangpur Riders will face Khulna Tigers on January 30.
Chittagong Kings are in the third slot in the league, securing 12 points from 10 matches with six wins and four defeats, and will now play lowly Sylhet Strikers on Thursday and league leader Fortune Barisal on February 1.
BPL Cricket: Chittagong Kings almost assures play-off berth beating Rangpur Riders
Sent into bat first in the day’s match, Dhaka Capitals were bundled out cheaply for just 73 runs in 15.3 balls with captain Thisara Perera (15), opener Litton Das (10) and West Indian Ronsford Beaton (10) being the notable scorers reaching double digit.
Slow left arm orthodox bowler Tanvir Islam grabbed three wickets for just two runs in two overs with a maiden and was adjudged the player of the match. Afghan cricketer Mohammad Nabi and Pakistani bowler Faheem Ashraf also took three each giving away 9 and 15 runs respectively.
In reply, Fortune Barishal faced no trouble to reach their small target making 77 runs for the loss of one wicket in just 6.3 overs.
One down English cricketer Dawid Malan scored an unbeaten 37 runs off 16 balls featuring five fours and two sixes, captain and opening batsman Tamim Iqbal remained not out on 14-ball 21 runs with four fours while Towhid Hridoy made nine-ball 15 runs hitting two six before he was victim of Mustafizur Rahman, who took the lone wicket conceding 16 runs.