Comilla Victorians clinch BPL title as Tamim hits ton

1813

DHAKA, Feb 8, 2019 (BSS)- Star opener Tamim Iqbal scored his maiden Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 ton as a first Bangladeshi batsman as Comilla Victorians won the coveted title of BPL T20 defeating Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs in the final held on Friday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur here.

Chasing a massive winning target of 200 runs set by Comilla Victorians, Dhaka Dynamites found the chase stiff and eventually they were restricted at 182 for 9 in 20 overs.

Though Dhaka stared their chase strongly reaching 92 runs in eight overs losing the only wicket of Sunil Narine but they lost their rhythm in the middle losing wickets drastically that forced them out from the match.

Rony Talukder and Upal Tharanga steadied the Dhaka’s innings after losing Sunil in the first over contributing 101 runs for the second wicket stand before Thisara Perera broke the stubborn partnership removing Tharanga who scored 27-ball off 48 runs with the help of four boundaries and three over boundaries.

After the departure of two set batsmen, Dhaka suffered wobble losing some quick wickets and slipped to 143 for 7. Dhaka Dynamites’ skipper Shakib Al Hasan (3) fell to Wahab Riaz while Rony, who was found confident with bat, fell victim of unfortunate run out before composing 38-ball off 66 runs hitting six boundaries and four over boundaries.

Even the great Kieron Pollard (13) and Andre Russell (4) buckled under the pressure of the final and they failed to flaunt their hitting prowess in the face of sharp bowling attacks by the Comilla’s bowlers.

Pakistani medium pacer Wahab Riaz was the pick of Comilla’s bolwer as he claimed three Dhaka’s wickets giving away 28 runs. He was well supported by Thisara Perera and Mohammad Saifuddin who claimed two wickets apiece for 35 and 38 runs respectively.

Tamim Iqbal of Comilla was named the player of the match for his impressive hundred while Sakib Al Hasan of Dhaka Dynamites was given the player of the series award.

Earlier, dashing opener Tamim Iqbal scored a heroic blistering unbeaten century helped Comilla Victorians to post a daunting total of 199 for 3 from their allotted 20 overs after Comilla were forced to bat first by Dhaka Dynamites.

Tamim, who become the first Bangladeshi batsman to score century in BPL, reached his fifty off 31 deliveries and then completed his ton off 50 deliveries in the all-important final.

When his innings came to an end, he had hit an 10 fours and an 11 delightful sixes during his 61-ball unbeaten 141 runs. Following his fifty, he had scored an incredible 88 runs off the last 30 deliveries he faced.

Tamim’s innings comprised of more than half the team’s runs in what was also emerged as the second-highest score in the BPL history — only behind West Indies explosive batsman Chris Gayle, who scored 146 in last edition’s final, also against Dhaka.

After the departure of his partner Evin Lewis, Tamim and one down Anamul Haque (24) shared 91 runs partnership for the second wickets stand by taking his side to a comfortable position.

The southpaw opener again paired another unbeaten hundred runs stand with his skipper Imrul Kayes (17 n.o) helped Comilla to set a massive winning target for Dhaka.

Shakib Al Hasan and pacer Rubel Hossain and shared one Comilla’s wicket each conceding 45 and 48 runs respectively.