The grand finale of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 2022 was expected to be a cliffhanger and two best sides of the tournament showcased the most thrilling game to create a historic occasion. In the end, Comilla Victorians' win in the last ball by the narrowest of margins denied Fortune Barishal. Some of the moments of this outstanding final are worth revisiting.
Narine storm
For the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world, Mirpur crowd got the chance to see a big final and they could not have asked for a better start than that provided by Comilla's Sunil Narine. The West Indian, who scored a blistering 57 off 16 balls in the second qualifier, arrived with another storm. The cyclone innings started with a six in the fourth ball of the first over bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman and continued the torrent of fours and sixes amid the loud cheers of around 10,000 fans. Some of his shots were breathtaking as he scored boundaries in every corner of the ground to reach his fifty off just 21 balls. Eventually he holed out at long on off a Mehedi Hasan Rana delivery and the catcher Nazmul Hossain Shanto celebrated with a dance along with a sigh of relief as Narine was removed for 57 off 23 with five fours and as many sixes.
Barishal’s comeback with bowling, fielding
Narine’s storm provided a great base for Comilla as they scored 73 in six overs but Barishal made a remarkable comeback by picking up wickets in regular intervals. At one stage Comilla were reduced to 95/6 in 10.3 overs thanks to some brilliant bowling and fielding. After Comilla recovered with another partnership between Abu Haider and Moeen Ali, the latter was dismissed run out thanks to another brilliant piece of fielding that restricted Comilla again.
Saykat whirlwind
Barishal were expecting a rapid start in the beginning with in-form Munim Shahriar and Chris Gayle but the former got out for a seven-ball duck while the latter looked calm like he does most of the time. However, they got an unlikely hero in the shape of Saykat Ali who batted one-down. The 28-year old right-hander started playing shots from the beginning to take advantage of the powerplay and he did it with some exquisite shots. Unlike Narine, he played most of his shots along the carpet as he struck as many as 11 fours before getting out for a blistering 58 off 34 balls.
Shakib dismissal
Shakib al Hasan has been in red hot form in the tournament and broke world record by getting five consecutive man of the match awards thanks largely to his batting and after Saykat’s brilliant start and Gayle’s 33 off 31 it was expected the ace all-rounder would navigate the side home. But he got dismissed at a crucial juncture of the game for run-a-ball seven. Not only his wicket the way he got out also inspired the fielding side. Shakib’s shot of left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam was brilliantly caught by Mustafizur Rahman at backward point through a diving effort. Initially the soft signal from the field umpire was not out but the television umpire overturned the decision. Barishal required 34 off 33 from that stage but the dismissal proved to be a turning point as inspired Comilla turned the table around eventually.
Shahidul’s last over
"If Shahidul [Islam] can defend this target a road in Comilla should be named after him," shouted one of the journalists at the press box before the thrilling last over. The pressure was immense on the 27-year old left-arm pacer as he had to defend 10 runs and he won it ultimately. He started with a dot thanks to a brilliant fielding effort in the follow through and conceded just two singles in the next two balls. Shahidul however, gave a wide to reduce the pressure in the next ball and batter Towhid Hridoy got two off the fourth ball. Shahidul deceived the batter in the next ball as Towhid’s shot went high in the air. In the climax of the moment Tanvir Islam dropped a sitter at deep square that allowed the batters to take two more runs, leaving three required off the last ball. Shahidul kept his cool in the final ball and bowled outside off that was driven to mid-off. While the batters attempted an impossible two wicket-keeper Liton Das broke the stumps thanks to a nice throw of Imrul Kayes and the skipper made his team elated with a thrilling win.
