Dhaka – Reining runners-up Dhaka Dynamites will lock horns with former champions Comilla Victorians in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday evening.
The match will kick off at 7pm.Both the teams reached the battle of the title relying on their imperious performance throughout the tournament. While the Victorians ensured the playoffs securing their place at number two of the points table right behind Rangpur Riders, the Dynamites made it at number four.
In the first Qualifier of the tournament, the Victorians outplayed the Riders to advance to the final, and the Dynamites won the Eliminator against Chittagong Vikings before knocking out the Riders from the tournament in the second Qualifier.
The best performers of the tournament will taste the T20 prowess of each other in the final. Alongside it, the final will also be the battle of two local coaches – Khaled Mahmud Shujon and Mohammad Shalahudin- who they have outplayed their counterparts in the tournaments and paved their way to the final.
Salahuddin, the coach of the Victorians, said the advancing of two local coaches to the final will create a new value of the local coaches to the franchise owners. He believes the success they have shown will create more chances for the local coaches in the future.
“I hope it’ll be great for the local coaches. The chance has been reducing for them to work in BPL. Since we – two local coaches- made it to the final, franchises will think about us in the future in a new manner. They’ll think to give us more. If we do well, it’ll really be good for the other local coaches. I always love to see local coaches to get more focus and learn more from foreign coaches,” Salahuddin said on Thursday while talking to the media.
The final will be the clash of foreign all-rounders, according to the coach of the Victorians. The Dynamites have the service of the players like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Keiron Pollard while the Victorians have Thisara Perera and Shahid Afridi.
“Having some good all-rounders always gives an extra advantage to create an ideal combination. The Dynamites have this advantage as they have three-four all-rounders and they can play two extra players for this. We also have some good all-rounders but they’re ahead of us in terms of having more good all-rounders,” Salahuddin further said.
“None of our all-rounders drew the attention of the spectators individually but we showed the team spirit throughout the tournament. I hope we can replicate it in the final as well,” the coach of the Victorians said.
The Victorians won eight matches during the league stage of the tournament. They showed utmost consistency while ensuring enough points to qualify for the playoffs as the first team of the league.
Imrul Kayes, the captain of the Victorians, thinks they should remain calm and cool to replicate the same compatibility in the final. The left-arm batsman also said the team with better application of plans will get the final success.
“Keeping the nerve in control is the most important thing. If you get excited, you’ll never get the desired success. We’ve discussed these things in the team meeting. You can’t change a lot in the practice of a day,” Imrul told the media.
Playing good cricket will be the key for the success in the final, believes Imrul. He further said: “I’m really happy with the way we’ve played from the start of the tournament. We wanted to play the final from the very depth of our heart. But you can’t guarantee to win the final in spite of winning all of the games in the league stage. However, we’ll try our best. Our main goal will be playing good cricket which is the key to great success.”
In the league stage of the tournament, the Victorians defeated the Dynamites twice. Imrul thinks this record will help them mentally in the battle of the title.
The Dynamites will take the field on Friday keeping the second title in mind, and which will be their third final appearance on the trot. They were on the eve of being axed from the tournament. But Shakib Al Hasan-led team bounced back as they beat Khulta Titans, Vikings and the Riders in succession to secure a place in the final.
