Player of the match Marlon Samuels plays a shot during his unbeaten 69 DHAKA TRIBUNEBenny Howell was the most successful Khulna bowler with two wickets for 25 runs.
Earlier, Mashrafe won the toss and elected to field first.
Riki Wessels (four) and Hasanuzzaman opened the batting for Khulna but the former was soon cleaned up by veteran pacer Mohammad Sharif in the first ball of the third over. Abdul Mazid came in at No 3 and made 18 before being bowled by Mashrafe in the seventh over.
The Comilla bowlers bowled good line and length in the middle stages of the tie to prevent the Khulna batsmen from hitting big shots. Amid the pressure, Hasanuzzman was out for 29 off the bowling of Mashrafe in the 11th over with the scoreboard reading 57/3.
Nicholas Pooran scored a quick 14 but soon became Mashrafe's third victim in the 13th over.
Khulna eventually ended up scoring 141 for the loss of six wickets.
Skipper Mahmudullah scored the highest 40 for Khulna.
Mashrafe was the wrecker in chief with three wickets while Sharif, seamer Mohammad Saifuddin and leg-spinner Rashid Khan all picked up a wicket each.
Despite the victory, Comilla remained second bottom with eight points from 11 games while Khulna, having played the same number of matches, are third with 12 points from the same number of matches as the holders.BRIEF SCOREComilla Victorians 142/5 in 18.4 overs (Samuels 69*, Liton 24, Howell 2/25) beat Khulna Titans 141/6 (Mahmudullah 40, Hasanuzzaman 29, Mashrafe 3/16) by five wickets WHAT THEY SAIDKhulna Titans captain MahmudullahWe didn't bat well throughout the tournament. We shuffled our top-order quite a few times but it did not click for us so far. We were unable to produce explosive starts. If we score 160-plus, then we can defend because I think our bowling unit is good enough to defend 160. But unfortunately we couldn't bat well enough. This is our main concern. We will try to bat well in the next match. We were in a good position to clinch the top-four spot. But yes, the situation is more difficult now after conceding three defeats in a row. We are focusing on the next match. Hopefully we can play good cricket and win.Comilla Victorians skipper Mashrafe bin MortazaIt is a really good feeling that we have been able to win matches again. Are you fighting till the last moment or not; this is the most important thing in professional career. We lost everything, but from that position, we won three matches in a row. It is a good achievement for us. It is a good learning experience for every player. Personally, I have an advantage as a bowler as I can bowl in short run-up. It does not hamper my pace at all. That’s why I am using it often. Whenever I feel some discomfort or there is a chance of injury, then I can control my bowling. I did it [Friday] and fortunately, my bowling was good.Defending champion Comilla Victorians defeated Khulna Titans by five wickets in their Bangladesh Premier League 2016-17 season match in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Chasing Khulna’s 141/6, Comilla lost opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad (nought) in the very first over. Shehzad tried to pull paceman Junaid Khan only to top-edge the delivery towards Mahmudullah who took a good catch at mid off.
One-drop batsman Marlon Samuels played a superb innings of 69 off 57 balls with eight boundaries to ensure Comilla's victory with eight balls to spare.
Khulna made the second breakthrough in the eighth over when opener Imrul Kayes was out after scoring a run-a-ball 29. Middle-order batsman Khalid Latif was also dismissed soon after for three.
Captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza promoted himself up the batting order and scored a quick-fire 20 off 11 balls. Mashrafe smashed three sixes during his innings. But after Mashrafe was dismissed, Comilla were under pressure as the next batsman, Nazmul Hossian Shanto, departed for four. By the end of the 15th over, Comilla were 100/5.
But wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das played an explosive innings of 24 runs off 11 balls and formed an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 42 runs alongside Samuels to guide Comilla home.
Player of the match Marlon Samuels plays a shot during his unbeaten 69 DHAKA TRIBUNEBenny Howell was the most successful Khulna bowler with two wickets for 25 runs.
Earlier, Mashrafe won the toss and elected to field first.
Riki Wessels (four) and Hasanuzzaman opened the batting for Khulna but the former was soon cleaned up by veteran pacer Mohammad Sharif in the first ball of the third over. Abdul Mazid came in at No 3 and made 18 before being bowled by Mashrafe in the seventh over.
The Comilla bowlers bowled good line and length in the middle stages of the tie to prevent the Khulna batsmen from hitting big shots. Amid the pressure, Hasanuzzman was out for 29 off the bowling of Mashrafe in the 11th over with the scoreboard reading 57/3.
Nicholas Pooran scored a quick 14 but soon became Mashrafe's third victim in the 13th over.
Khulna eventually ended up scoring 141 for the loss of six wickets.
Skipper Mahmudullah scored the highest 40 for Khulna.
Mashrafe was the wrecker in chief with three wickets while Sharif, seamer Mohammad Saifuddin and leg-spinner Rashid Khan all picked up a wicket each.
Despite the victory, Comilla remained second bottom with eight points from 11 games while Khulna, having played the same number of matches, are third with 12 points from the same number of matches as the holders.BRIEF SCOREComilla Victorians 142/5 in 18.4 overs (Samuels 69*, Liton 24, Howell 2/25) beat Khulna Titans 141/6 (Mahmudullah 40, Hasanuzzaman 29, Mashrafe 3/16) by five wickets WHAT THEY SAIDKhulna Titans captain MahmudullahWe didn't bat well throughout the tournament. We shuffled our top-order quite a few times but it did not click for us so far. We were unable to produce explosive starts. If we score 160-plus, then we can defend because I think our bowling unit is good enough to defend 160. But unfortunately we couldn't bat well enough. This is our main concern. We will try to bat well in the next match. We were in a good position to clinch the top-four spot. But yes, the situation is more difficult now after conceding three defeats in a row. We are focusing on the next match. Hopefully we can play good cricket and win.Comilla Victorians skipper Mashrafe bin MortazaIt is a really good feeling that we have been able to win matches again. Are you fighting till the last moment or not; this is the most important thing in professional career. We lost everything, but from that position, we won three matches in a row. It is a good achievement for us. It is a good learning experience for every player. Personally, I have an advantage as a bowler as I can bowl in short run-up. It does not hamper my pace at all. That’s why I am using it often. Whenever I feel some discomfort or there is a chance of injury, then I can control my bowling. I did it [Friday] and fortunately, my bowling was good.
Player of the match Marlon Samuels plays a shot during his unbeaten 69 DHAKA TRIBUNEBenny Howell was the most successful Khulna bowler with two wickets for 25 runs.
Earlier, Mashrafe won the toss and elected to field first.
Riki Wessels (four) and Hasanuzzaman opened the batting for Khulna but the former was soon cleaned up by veteran pacer Mohammad Sharif in the first ball of the third over. Abdul Mazid came in at No 3 and made 18 before being bowled by Mashrafe in the seventh over.
The Comilla bowlers bowled good line and length in the middle stages of the tie to prevent the Khulna batsmen from hitting big shots. Amid the pressure, Hasanuzzman was out for 29 off the bowling of Mashrafe in the 11th over with the scoreboard reading 57/3.
Nicholas Pooran scored a quick 14 but soon became Mashrafe's third victim in the 13th over.
Khulna eventually ended up scoring 141 for the loss of six wickets.
Skipper Mahmudullah scored the highest 40 for Khulna.
Mashrafe was the wrecker in chief with three wickets while Sharif, seamer Mohammad Saifuddin and leg-spinner Rashid Khan all picked up a wicket each.
Despite the victory, Comilla remained second bottom with eight points from 11 games while Khulna, having played the same number of matches, are third with 12 points from the same number of matches as the holders.BRIEF SCOREComilla Victorians 142/5 in 18.4 overs (Samuels 69*, Liton 24, Howell 2/25) beat Khulna Titans 141/6 (Mahmudullah 40, Hasanuzzaman 29, Mashrafe 3/16) by five wickets WHAT THEY SAIDKhulna Titans captain MahmudullahWe didn't bat well throughout the tournament. We shuffled our top-order quite a few times but it did not click for us so far. We were unable to produce explosive starts. If we score 160-plus, then we can defend because I think our bowling unit is good enough to defend 160. But unfortunately we couldn't bat well enough. This is our main concern. We will try to bat well in the next match. We were in a good position to clinch the top-four spot. But yes, the situation is more difficult now after conceding three defeats in a row. We are focusing on the next match. Hopefully we can play good cricket and win.Comilla Victorians skipper Mashrafe bin MortazaIt is a really good feeling that we have been able to win matches again. Are you fighting till the last moment or not; this is the most important thing in professional career. We lost everything, but from that position, we won three matches in a row. It is a good achievement for us. It is a good learning experience for every player. Personally, I have an advantage as a bowler as I can bowl in short run-up. It does not hamper my pace at all. That’s why I am using it often. Whenever I feel some discomfort or there is a chance of injury, then I can control my bowling. I did it [Friday] and fortunately, my bowling was good.