An all-round effort from Mahedi Hasan led the Dhaka Platoon to victory over Cumilla Warriors in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League T20 yesterday.
The victory was Dhaka’s third in five matches this season, while it was Cumilla’s third defeat in the same number of matches.
Chasing a 161-run target, Dhaka Platoon were shaken by the dismissal of opener Anamul Haque for a duck on the final ball of the first over. However, Mahedi and other opener Tamim Iqbal did more than just steady the ship.
Although Tamim was expected to charge of the innings as the more experienced batsman, it was Mahadi who led the way with a blistering half-century off 22 deliveries. When he was finally dismissed off the bowling of Al-Amin Hossain after scoring 59 off 29 balls, Platoon needed 77 runs to win with eight wickets and 11 overs in hand.
It was Mahedi’s maiden half-century in the T20 format.
Dhaka Platoon won by 5 wickets#BBPL #DPvCW#BPLseason7 pic.twitter.com/rS79WiGsAg
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) December 23, 2019
Tamim, who was making a comeback for Dhaka after recovering from a high fever, played a conservative hand as Mahadi had assumed the role of aggressor. The stability the experienced batsman offered proved particularly handy when Asif Ali and Jaker Ali both lost their wickets to off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in quick succession, almost immediately after Mahadi.
Opener Tamim was finally dismissed by Soumya Sarkar in the 16th over, after scoring an uncharacteristically slow 34 off 40 balls. Mominul Haque (28 runs off 26 balls) and Shahid Afridi (26 runs off 16 balls) then closed out the game for Dhaka Platoon with a 39-run stand for the sixth wicket.
The game went on to the very last over, with Soumya Sarkar needing to defend 8 runs. Mominul took a single off the first ball, before Afridi hit a six on the third to level the scores. Afridi then took a single to score the winning run with one ball to spare.
#Mahadi: My wicket was not valuable https://t.co/ivaRF5kZWY
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 23, 2019
Earlier, Mahedi had also shined with the ball for Dhaka Platoon, giving away just nine runs in four overs and picking up two wickets - Soumya on 10 and Sabbir Rahman for a seven-ball duck. The Cumilla Warriors innings was boosted by an unbeaten 65-ball 96 from opener Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
The innings from the Sri Lankan cricketer had come on the back of a sloppy decision by the on-field umpires. Rajapaksa had walked back to the dugout on 20 runs after he was caught at deep square-leg, but the umpires changed their decision after television replays revealed the bowler Wahad Riaz over-stepped during the delivery. Yasir Ali Chowdhury remained unbeaten at the other end on 30 from 27 deliveries, as Cumilla finished on 160/3.
17TH MATCH, CWvDP
CUMILLA WARRIORS INNINGS R B
PBB Rajapaksa not out 96 65
Soumya Sarkar b Mahedi 10 6
Sabbir c Jaker b Mahedi 0 7
Malan c sub Shuvagata b Shadab 9 17
Yasir Ali not out 30 27
Extras (b 3, lb 6, nb 2, w 4) 15
Total 160/3
Fall Of Wickets
1-16 (Soumya Sarkar, 1.3 ov), 2-33 (Sabbir Rahman, 3.4 ov), 3-57 (Dawid Malan, 9.3 ov)
BOWLING
Mashrafe Mortaza 3-0-21-0, Mahedi Hasan 4-0-9-2, Hasan Mahmud 3-0-34-0, Wahab Riaz 4-0-32-0, Shadab Khan 4-0-32-1, Shahid Afridi 2-0-23-0
DHAKA PLATOON INNINGS R B
Tamim c Malan b Soumya 34 40
Anamul † c Soumya b Robiul 0 2
Mahedi c †Mahidul b Al-Amin 59 29
Asif Ali b Mujeeb 0 5
Jaker Ali lbw b Mujeeb 0 1
Mominul Haque not out 28 26
Shahid Afridi not out 26 16
Extras (lb 3, w 11) 14
Total (19.5 Overs) 161/5
Fall Of Wickets
1-1 (Anamul Haque, 0.6 ov), 2-84 (Mahedi Hasan, 8.5 ov), 3-88 (Asif Ali, 9.5 ov), 4-88 (Jaker Ali, 9.6 ov), 5-122 (Tamim Iqbal, 15.3 ov)
BOWLING
Robiul Islam Robi 4-0-44-1, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4-1-22-2 , Sumon Khan 4-0-34-0, Al-Amin 4-0-29-1 Soumya Sarkar 3.5-0-29 -1
Dhaka Platoon won by Five wickets
MoM: Mehedi Hasan (DP)
