Bangladesh Premier League 2022 News

Comilla Victorians are the new Bangladesh Premier League Champions after playing a nerve-wracking encounter against Fortune Barishal on Friday, 18 February. (Access the full scorecard here) Not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination from either of the teams, it was a kind of encounter where both the sides were very poor for at least 15/40 overs of the game. Themes were similar on the day as both teams got off to a blazing start and then let it fizzle out for the larger part of the innings, and in the bowling department, both teams came back very strongly to establish themselves in the innings. It could well be said that at the end, it was more about who would make more errors on the day, and there were plenty made, trust me. But more on that later. 2 performances that stood out There were two standout performances in the day, one from Comilla Victorians’ Sunil Narine who got the team off to a tremendous start scoring yet another half century and then returning to bowl tight overs in the death that played a huge part in Comilla’s win. The other was from Shykat Ali, the only change made in the Barishal line-up on the day. Chasing 152 runs in 20 overs, Ali got Barishal off to a start that teams dream of in the finals. While others were found stuck under pressure, Ali smashed his way to a 34-ball 58 to take Comilla out of the game in the first 6 overs. At his time of dismissal, Barishal were at 79/2 in 9.4 overs, needing just 72 runs from more than 10 overs remaining. How not to approach a T20 game With 8 wickets in hand, Barishal completely messed the situation up by taking the conservative approach till the 16th over of the game. Barring one big over from Chris Gayle, who desperately needed to get his strike-rate back up to 100 managed 17 runs from two overs before getting out to Sunil Narine. At the time of getting out, Barishal still needed 45 off 42 with 7 wickets in hand - a cakewalk for any professional T20 team in the world. But you know that the air had changed by then. Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Narine bowled in tandem to choke out the flow of boundaries, and only 2 of them came in the next SIX overs of the game. And suddenly the equation had changed. Runs had not been scored, wickets had fallen and by then Comilla believed that they can, they can secure this game. Mistake that could have cost Comilla the game Fortune Barishal needed 10 off the final over with Shohidul Islam bowling. The same Shohidul Islam who went for 13 runs in his first over. With Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Towhid Hridoy on strike, Barishal might have had a slim chance of winning, but T20 is a game of maximising the chances on mistakes. Two runs came from the first three balls, with Shahidul hitting yorkers and low full tosses around the off stump line. Things were fine and processes were followed. And then came the mistake, one that fast bowlers dread, and in that kind of pressure who could blame them? Shohidul ran in at full steam, went through his action and bowled a short one - down the leg side - at half speed. An absolute gift for any batters. But as luck would have it, Hridoy failed to connect and the umpire called it a wide. The last three balls had a single, a catch dropped and a run out when 3 was required off the final ball, and Comilla held on to win one of the most fascinating games in the Bangladesh Premier League this season. Shakib al Hasan in the post-match presentation admitted that they had made several mistakes that took the game away from them and they would try to do better next season. But should Barishal have lost the game? Maybe, maybe not. Down and out in the first 5 overs of the game, owing to Sunil Narine’s elite batting, Barishal came back. Aided by a collective bowling effort, Barishal dragged the game back just 80 more runs in the last 16 overs of the game, picking up six wickets. Three quick wickets of Faf du Plessis, Imrul Kayes and Mahmudul Hasan Joy meant that Comilla lost their entire middle order for a very bare minimum number of runs. The only time Comilla looked dangerous after Narine’s departure was when Moeen Ali and Abu Hider started connecting their shots late in the death overs. But as usual, Barishal put a nip on it inside the next six balls, making sure that the game did not go away from them. However, that was not enough as Sunil Narine would once again comeback to haunt them - this time in the death overs of the chase to pick up one important wicket of Dwayne Bravo in the 18th over and giving away just 2 runs. This led to a big shift in terms of momentum and started the belief that they could actually go on to win the game. And that’s why he was awarded as man of the match of the final game.

Team of the tournament Fortune Barishal pulled the final game of the Bangladesh Premier League back under their control after getting smashed around in the first six overs by Comilla Victorians. The Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka saw an emphatic comeback from the Shakib Al Hasan-led team after they were smashed all around the park by Sunil Narine. Down by 73/2 after the first 5 overs, Barishal struck back with Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Faf du Plessis and Imrul Kayes in a space of four overs. This effectively wiped off Comilla’s middle order and forced them into retreat despite a tremendous opening few overs. Abu Hider and Moeen Ali stabilised the fall of wickets, by patiently ticking off bowlers without taking any sort of risks against the spirited spell of bowling. Both batsmen took the Comilla innings past the 15-over mark, which at a point did not look possible. They left it late to start counter hitting Barishal back and the opportunity presented itself in the 18th over of the game. Mehedi Hasan in his final over was hit for two sixes, leaking out 15 runs in the death overs. Comilla would have loved for it to continue, but the very next over from Dwayne Bravo once again put a lid on the runrate. However, Comilla knew that inexperienced Shafiqul Islam would be bowling the last over and they could get at least 15 from that one. But alas, it was not to be. A run out in the first ball and two wickets off short balls did the trick for Barishal and they managed to keep Barishal restricted to just 151 runs.

Comilla Victorians got off to a flying start against Fortune Barishal in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League on Friday, 18 February at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. Choosing to bat first in what looked like a flat track, Comilla were able to put the pedal to the metal quickly after Sunil Narine started in his classical style - throwing his bat at everything that was bowled to him. The first two overs went for 36 runs, with Afghan Mujeeb Ur Rahman going for 18 in his first over and young pacer Shafiqul Islam belted for the same amount of runs by the West Indian batter. Narine looked in ominous touch, timing the ball exceptionally well till the third over bowled by Shakib Al Hasan, which put screws on the runflow. Giving just four runs away in the third, Shakib also managed to dismiss Liton Das who did not put much contribution in the partnership. The right handed Bangladesh opener scored just 4 runs off his six balls. It needs to be noted that Sunil Narine scored the fastest T20 century in Bangladesh in the last match of the tournament scoring his half century in just 13 balls. This game was no different from the last as Narine notched up another half century in the tournament completing his feat in just 21-balls. At the time of writing, Narine had just been dismissed in the second ball of the 6th over with Comilla being at 69/2. Faf du Plessis had just walked into the pitch to partner Mahmudul Hasan Joy

After storming into the Qualifiers of the Bangladesh Premier League by defeating Khulna Tigers in the first knockout game, Chattogram Challengers fell victim to their own madness on Wednesday, February 16. After posting a below par total of 148 runs in a good pitch, Challengers were thrown out of context in the first 6 overs after Sunil Narine took them out of the park. Not only did Narine score the fastest BPL half century in the game, he also helped Comilla post the highest powerplay score of 84 runs in the competition. With just 65 required off the last 84 balls, it was a walk in the park for a batting line up that houses the likes of Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali. Both the international batters remained not out after Narine’s dismissal and won the game with 7 wickets and 43 balls remaining. While Moeen scored 30 off 13, Faf scored the same number of runs in 23 balls. Challengers were themselves to be blamed for the awful planning as they fed Sunil Narine three overs of spin in the powerplay. The elite spin hitter, who is known for this very specific skill set all over the world hit the fastest 50 ever scored in the history of BPL and in Bangladesh to put Comilla in an undefeatable position inside the first 5 overs. Narine - as expected got out to pace in the sixth over of the game scoring 57 off 16. From their it was just about game management and risk free cricket as After electing to bat first in the first innings, Chattogram straightaway had to deal with the initial new ball movement from Abu Hider and Mustafizur Rahman. Despite starting well in the first over, opener Will Jacks looked frustrated with the amount of movement the pacers were extracting and played a rash shot against Shohidul Islam in the fourth over right after getting beaten by a jaffa in the earlier ball. This ensued a flurry of wickets, all of them where batters looked impatient early in the game. Right after Jacks was Chadwick Walton who was caught plumb in front trying to sweep spinner Tanvir Islam. And then came the worst bit. A double wicket maiden in the final over of the powerplay from Moeen Ali dedicated the terms to Chattogram straightaway. And this is where the think tank and the players need to be blamed. When the game demanded stability, Chattogram batters got out via schoolboy errors, either trying to hit a ball that was never in the arc or trying to step down and then missing the ball. It was only for late hitting of Akbar Ali and Mritunjoy Chowdhury that brought Chattogram a decent total before they were wrapped up in the first ball of the final over. However, it would turn out to be too low as tactical failure early in the second innings of the game would make it a cake walk for Comilla who would go on to seal the game by 7 wickets.

Fortune Barishal registered a final berth in the BPL 2022 after defeating Comilla Victorians in the first Qualifier in Dhaka. Chasing a target of 144 in 20 overs, the Victorians fell short by 10 runs as they were restricted to 133/7 eventually. The Comilla side had a decent start to the proceedings as Liton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy put up 62 for the first wicket in less than 11 overs but Joy's dismissal certainly broke the shackles as the side lost a few wickets in quick succession to leave the side in a spot of bother at 68/3. Later, Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali tried to steady the ship as the right-left batting duo stitched a 36-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Dwayne Bravo showed his experience and scalped the priced wicket of Moeen Ali for 22 off 15 and Faf followed him soon after being dismissed for 21 off 15 by Mehedi Hasan Rana. Sunil Narine though tried to make some contribution but couldn't take the team over the line. He was dismissed for 17 off 16. Shafiqul Islam returned with figures of 2/16 in 4 overs while Mehedi Hasan Rana had a couple of wickets to his name at the cost of just 15 runs in 3 overs. Bravo also returned with impressive figures of 1/26 in 4 overs. Earlier, in the day, the Barishal side looked steady at the start of the innings as they had put 84/2 in less than 10 overs but they lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 110/6 before getting restricted to 143/8 in 20 overs. Munim Shahriar top-scored with 44 off 30. Shohidul Islam scalped three wickets for 25 runs in three overs. "Throughout this tournament, our bowlers have stood up. We knew our bowling line up can defend anything. But we should have scored more. Hopefully one match to go and our openers will do well," Shakib said after the match. The Victorians will now lock horns with Chattogram Challengers in the second qualifier and the winner of this game will meet Barishal in the title clash.

The Khulna Tigers suffered a defeat against Chattogram Challengers despite an aggressive batting display from Andre Fletcher, Mushfiqur Rahim and Yasir Ali in the Eliminator clash in Dhaka. Chasing 190 in 20 overs, the Tigers lost a couple of wickets inside the first five overs but Rahim and Fletcher joined hands for a 64-run stand for the third wicket. Mushfiqur was eventually sent in the hut for a 29-ball 43 by Mehidy Hasan and Fletcher was then joined by Yasir in the middle. The two batters began the rebuilding process with a partnership of 65 runs for the fourth wicket. But Ali's dismissal for 45 off 24 in the 19th over pushed the Khulna side on the back foot as they could only add 10 more runs from there to get restricted to 182/5 in 20 overs. Fletcher remained unbeaten at 80 off 58. Earlier, in the day, the Challengers rode on an emphatic 89* off 44 from Walton to put 189/5 in 20 overs on the board. Nabil Samad was the pick of the bowlers for his side after he returned with figures of 1/15 in 4 overs. "We played well and are really excited to play the second qualifier. We knew it was going to a tough match but we kept believing that we could do win. That was not pre-decided, it was a crucial over and we felt he (Mehidy) could do it. We will watch the next match and also celebrate our win," Afif Hossain said after the match.