Dhaka Dynamites took a giant leap towards securing their position in the top half of the Bangladesh Premier League 2015 points table as they beat Chittagong Vikings by 45 runs to oust the port-city side from the tournament yesterday.
Chittagong, on four points after nine games, will complete the formalities today when they face Barisal Bulls in the evening match at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium. Meanwhile, Dhaka’s progress in the tournament will be sealed if they continue the momentum against Sylhet Super Stars in the afternoon clash. Two matches remain for both teams who are vying for the fourth spot and Sylhet’s hopes will vanish if they fail to get full points from the encounter.
Kumar Sangakkara, after being put into bat first, once again found himself in the middle with his side two down in no time. His stroke of sending in leg-spinner Yasir Shah to open the batting also did not hamper the Chittagong plan much.
The match got more attention when Mohammad Hafeez walked in at No 3 as Tamim immediately brought Mohammad Amir into the attack. It should be mentioned that Pakistani Hafeez earlier declined the Vikings’ offer to play in the BPL due to Amir’s presence in the squad.
Hafeez lasted four balls against the left-arm quickie as a pumped-up Amir punched the air in his celebratory run; it was his silent yet loud answer to Hafeez on the field.
However, Sangakkara (38) and Mosaddek Hossain (24) repaired the early damage with a 56-run partnership before Malcolm Waller’s 10-ball 19 helped Dhaka to a par score – 121 for eight.
The target was small, but a big one compared to BPL’s standard and it grew bigger with the departure of both Tamim and Tillakaratne Dilshan inside three overs. Left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain bowled exceptionally well and bagged 4/16 to help Dhaka bowl out their opponents for a paltry 76 in 16.5 overs.
