An injury-hit Comilla Victorians continued their march towards the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 title as they dismantled the Sylhet Super Stars in their ultimate league game yesterday to seal the number one spot in the points table.
Riding on contributions from Imrul Kayes, Ahmed Shehzad, Alok Kapali and Ashar Zaidi, Comilla posted a modest 150 for four on what looked like a better batting strip than the initial BPL days. Despite a decent start to their run chase, Sylhet faltered badly and fell like a house of cards. 79-all out in 13.5 overs handed Comilla a 71-run victory, enough to confirm them a place in Qualifier 1.
The defeat, Sylhet’s seventh, ended the bittersweet journey for the side that started the campaign with Mushfiqur Rahim at the helm and finished with Shahid Afridi expressing disappointment of the Super Stars not being able to win the matches when he wasn’t around.
“I wasn’t there but at the start of the competition, we lost very close games. Too many changes early didn’t make it easy for the combination. I think we didn’t play according to the team plan in batting and bowling. In few games we applied but we had to be consistent. We made lots of mistakes in every game,” said the 35-year-old Pakistan T20 captain Afridi who replaced Mushfiq as Sylhet skipper from the seventh match onwards.
Fourteen points in the bag however, does not reflect the adjustments Comilla had to make during the 10 matches. Their team combination had to be altered for each game and the think-tank had to brainstorm the playing XI accordingly.
Mashrafe bin Mortaza, the Bangladesh ODI and T20 captain, can be held as the biggest inspiration for the franchise as the braveheart cricketer once again put his faith on the line and led the side despite carrying a hamstring injury that can damage his future badly.
According to Mashrafe, a fast sprint at the moment will be enough to put a long halt to his career, but his franchises have that faith in him and they believe the Narail Express’ presence on the field is enough to lift the team morale.
“If it was national team, I wouldn’t have played. But franchises here they have expectations and they know my current situation. These small injuries made me suffer a lot in the past. My team owners just want me to stay on and lead within my limitations and that’s what I am doing,” said Mashrafe who bowled just one over in the last match, and hasn’t bowled apart from that in the last four matches.
“[Andre] Russell will play in the semi-finals (Qualifier 1), but his availability for the remaining matches is yet to be finalised. He will send an application to his Big Bash franchise, because they have a rule for the players joining seven days before the tournament.
“[Shoaib] Malik is injured too, he has the permission of taking 10 injections during the tournament. He has already taken eight, if we played him (yesterday) he wouldn’t have been able to play in the semi.”
