Fortune Barishal 195 for 7 (Tamim 54, Mayers 46, Shoriful 4-34) beat Chittagong Kings 194 for 3 (Emon 78*, Nafay 66, Clark 44) by three wickets
Rishad slammed Binura Fernando and Hussain Talat for a six each in the last two overs before a wide finished things. The Chittagong players were left heart-broken but Barishal had been the most consistent team through the competition, winning 11 of their 14 games overall. This was a franchise that had spent big over the past two seasons, and it showed in their depth here, holding their nerve as the game swung both ways.
Chittagong’s record start
Given the make-up of their batting line-up, Chittagong were always banking on a good start. That’s what Nafay and Parvez delivered. Chittagong were put in and Parvez kicked things off with two sixes off Tanvir Islam, before they got a pair of fours off Ebadot Hossain. Nafay got on top of Rishad from his first ball, lofting him over midwicket. Nafay struck Rishad for three sixes in his first two overs in all, and the pair became the first to register a century stand in a BPL final. Parvez reached his fifty in the 11th over, before Nafay struck Rishad over extra cover to reach his third fifty in the competition.
Barishal keep Chittagong below 200
Tamim goes big
In the first over of Barishal’s chase, Tamim caressed Binura for three fours through the off side. He repeated the exact dose for Shoriful Islam in the next over, though this time he had one boundary down the ground. Tamim reached his second fifty in a BPL final in the seventh over, having faced just 24 balls. He slammed Arafat Sunny for a four and a six, as Chittagong raced to 70 runs in the first seven overs.
Shoriful triggers mini slide
Shoriful turned things around with two wickets in the ninth over. He first removed Tamim whose slam down the ground only found Khaled Ahmed at the long-off boundary. Then Shoriful rapped Dawid Malan’s pads; it looked at first that it might be sliding down the leg and the umpire agreed, but Shoriful was confident Chittagong should review. His captain Mohammad Mithun seemingly reluctantly agreed, but the bowler was proven right. Malan fell for one, giving Chittagong a lifeline. Shortly afterwards, Towhid Hridoy struck Naeem Islam down midwicket’s throat to make it 96 for 3 in the 11th over.
Full report to follow…
