Dhaka – National opener Tamim Iqbal and Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi guided Comilla Victorians to the top slot of the seven-team Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) forcing Chittagong Vikings to suffer the 3rd consecutive loss at home with a seven-wicket defeat on Tuesday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
With the feat, Comilla Victorians clinched the top spot again in the league tables securing 14 points from 10 matches while Chittagong Vikings went down to the 3th place with 12 points from 10 matches with the 3rd successive defeat, all on the home soil. Rangpur Riders were in the 2nd slot also with 12 points from 10 matches with a better run rate.
Chittagong Vikings posted 116 runs for eight wickets in a curtailed 19-over-a-side match due to rain and the Victorians easily chased down it making 117 runs for the loss of three wickets in 16.4 overs.
Left-handed national opening batsman Tamim Iqbal remained unbeaten on 54 off 51 balls featuring four fours and two sixes to make his 2nd fifty in the ongoing season of BPL.
The Victorians lost their first wicket on 26 runs when Anamul Haque Bijoy failed once again to hit a big score. Today, he fell for eight off 13 balls. But in the second wicket stand, Tamim and Shamsur Rahman added 65 runs.
Shamsur fell for 36 off 22 balls. He was scalped by Abu Jayed Rahi. The right-handed national pacer also hunted the captain of the Victorians, Imrul Kayes, for eight off eight deliveries.
Along with Tamim Iqbal, Thisara Perera also remained on 10 off seven balls while ensuring the seventh victory in the season.
Earlier, Chittagong Vikings tumbled for 116 for eight in 19 overs as one over was reduced due to rain. Mohammad Shahzad (33), Najibullah Zadran (13) and Mosaddek Hossain (43) were the batsmen to reach double-digit scores.
In the rain-interrupted start, the Vikings lost two wickets in just three runs. Mohammad Saifuddin, the right-arm pacer, scalped both of Shadman Islam and Yasir Ali. Both of them failed to score anything.
Coming to the middle at number four, Mushfiqur Rahim also failed as he fell for six off seven balls. Chittagong’s initial struggle continued until Mosaddek struck 43 off 25 balls with three fours and as many as sixes.
Cameron Delport and Sikandar Raza fell for six and five respectively with both of them being scalped by Shahid Afridi.
The Pakistan all-rounder bowled devastatingly to grab two wickets for 10 runs in his four-over spell and was adjudged the man of the match.
Besdies, Saifuddin and Wahab Riaz took two wickets each for the Victorians while Mehedi Hasan bagged one.
Comilla will play their next game against Dhaka Dynamites on February 1 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka and Chittagong Vikings will face Dhaka on Wednesday.UNB
