Pollard’s Dhaka edge Brathwaite’s Khulna in thriller

Dhaka Dynamites’ Kieron Pollard overpowered Khulna Titans’ Carlos Braithwaite as the capital city outfit edged the opposition by four wickets in a BPL 2017 thriller at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Tuesday. Dhaka needed six runs from six balls in the end and Braithwaite gave away only one run in the first three deliveries. But an improvised reverse scoop shot from Dhaka batsman Jahurul Islam off the fourth ball ensured the nail-biting win for the home side. During their chase, Dhaka were in all sorts of trouble as, at one stage, they were reeling on 41 for the loss of five wickets in 8.3 overs. Big hitters like Evin Lewis (four), Shahid Afridi (one), Cameron Delport (two), Sunil Narine (seven) and captain Shakib al Hasan (20) were all sent back to the pavilion and Khulna were very much on top. But Dhaka still had power hitters left in their batting line-up as the next batsman, Pollard, turned the match for them. The West Indian player played an outstanding innings of 55 off 24 balls with three boundaries and half a dozen sixes. Pollard smashed four sixers in one over against skipper Mahmudullah in the 11th over and after that, Dhaka sensed of returning to the game, riding on Pollard’s power hitting ability. And Pollard did exactly what his team needed, smashing fours and sixes all over the park to bring Dhaka right back into the game.

What a match! Dhaka Dynamites​ beat Khulna Titans​ by 4 wickets with a ball to go. #DDvKHT#BPLSeason5To follow Live Score: https://t.co/FV5Q2eJ4VEWatch BPL2017 LIVE Download the app from the links below. Android: https://t.co/Abt7HkcJkRiOS: https://t.co/ZUouIT1fiB pic.twitter.com/iaTrZml48P

— BPLT20 (@Official_BPLT20) November 14, 2017

Pacer Shafiul Islam removed Pollard in the 15th over but the damage had already been done by then. From there, Jahurul and new batsman Mosaddek Hossain formed an unbeaten 43-run partnership for the seventh wicket to guide Dhaka home. Jahurul was adjudged man of the match. Earlier, Shakib won the toss and elected to field. Dhaka dropped paceman Mohammad Shahid to include an extra batsman, Nadif Chowdhury, while Khulna made two changes. Wicketkeeper-batsman Chadwick Walton and spinner Mosharraf Hossain were dropped to make room for slow bowler Akila Dananjaya and stumper-batter Dhiman Ghosh. The start and the opening powerplay were not productive for Khulna as, after six overs, they managed to score only 29 losing the wickets of opener Michael Klinger (10) and Dhiman (two). In the 10th over, the other opener Nazmul Hossain Shanto was stumped by Jahurul off the bowling of Narine for 24 off 25 balls.Khulna were in further trouble as Mahmudullah was the next man to depart for 14 off 10 balls, the Titans struggling on 71/4 inside 13 overs. But the next batsman, Brathwaite, turned the tables as the big-hitting West Indian started to accelerate the run rate. Brathwaite scored 64 off 29 balls with four boundaries and six sixes as Khulna eventually posted 156/5 in their stipulated 20 overs.BRIEF SCOREDhaka Dynamites 157/6 in 19.5 overs (Pollard 55, Jahurul 45*) beat Khulna Titans 156/5 (Brathwaite 64*, Rossouw 34) by four wickets WHAT THEY SAIDJahurul Islam, Dhaka Dynamites wicketkeeper-batsmanIn the first two balls, I tried to smash fours. But [Carlos] Brathwaite bowled accurate yorkers. So after taking a single off the third ball, I realised trying to hit four was wrong thinking. I should have tried for single. So later I planned that, he may bowl yorker again. So I took a gamble and played a reverse scoop. I never played such a shot in a match. In practice sometimes I try to play this kind of shot. In a game, it was my first time. I had to do something different and in the end I am happy that I got success and our team won.Mahela Jayawardene, Khulna Titans head coachIt was a very good knock from [Kieron] Pollard. Carlos did similar for us. That’s what T20 cricket is all about. It’s a very good game. I enjoyed it. I think Dhaka [Dynamites] are a very strong team. We have come very close to beating them. I am really proud the way our boys played. They played some really good cricket. Still it’s early part of the tournament. We have played only four games. We need to ensure that we refocus and get on with it. I think our bowlers bowled really well. It’s just Pollard batted exceptionally. Later we came back again strongly. I thought Jahurul batted with responsibility in the end. That was crucial. It was a good chase.