Fortune Barishal made a winning start in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 2022 as they beat Chattogram Challengers by four wickets in the opening match of the eighth edition in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Friday afternoon.
Barishal reached their 126-run target with eight balls to spare but lost six wickets.
Opener Saikat Ali orchestrated the chase scoring 39 off 25 deliveries with one four and two sixes.
But Chattogram struck thrice in the 15th over as Barishal stumbled from 92/3 to 96/6, which made the finishing of the match interesting.
Saikat was the first batsman who got out in the 15th over, bowled by Mehedi Hasan Miraz, as the opener was caught at deep square leg fence.
Irfan Sukkur was trapped leg before wicket in the very next ball and a brilliant fielding effort from cover region by Afif Hossain inflicted run out of new batsman Salman Hossain and Barishal were under pressure chasing a moderate target.
But all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Ziaur Rahman then added an unbroken 34-run partnership to help Barishal cross the line.
Chattogram skipper Miraz made a valiant effort with the ball as he took four wickets conceding just 14 runs from his quota of four overs.
He was adjudged player of the match despite being on the losing side, a rarity these days.
Focus was on Barishal skipper Shakib al Hasan when he came out to bat but the star all-rounder scored 13 off 16 balls and was cleaned up by Miraz while trying to attempt an aggressive shot across the line.
Earlier, regular loss of wickets kept Chattogram under par score as they were struggling in the first 15 overs.
A late surge from Benny Howell in the closing stage of the innings helped them cross the 120-run mark but that was not enough in the end on a relatively good wicket.
Howell scored 41 off just 20 balls with three fours and as many sixes but did not get support from the other end.
Shakib was brilliant with the ball as the left-arm spinner conceded just nine runs in his four overs and took the wicket of Sabbir Rahman.
Caribbean pacer Alzarri Joseph was the highest wicket-taker for Barishal with three scalps while off-spinner Nayeem Hasan took two.
1ST MATCH
Chattogram Challengers 125/8 (Howell 41, Joseph 3/32, Nayeem 2/25) lost to Fortune Barishal 126/6 in 18.4 overs (Saikat 39, Ziaur 19*, Miraz 4/16) by four wickets
