Sylhet Strikers returned to winning ways after defeating Fortune Barishal in their nail-biting Bangladesh Premier League encounter in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Tuesday.
It was a heavyweight match between the joint table-toppers and the anticipation was high due to the match up of Mashrafe' Sylhet up against Shakib's Barishal, and in the end, the Strikers had the last laugh.
Chasing 174 runs to win, Barishal required 15 runs in the last over with their in-form Pakistani recruit Iftikhar Ahmed on strike.
Sylhet skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza gave the responsibility to young pacer Rejaur Rahman Raja to defend the total, and the youngster took the wicket of Iftikhar in the second ball after giving a wide in the first one.
Sylhet wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim managed a good throw from his position when the new batsman Mohammad Wasim failed to connect, and the throw from the keeper caused the run out of Mehedi Hasan Miraz.
The match became much more intense after Wasim hit a six in the fifth ball as Barishal required seven runs for victory, and a six for Super Over.
Wasim though only managed to score a boundary towards fine leg and Sylhet prevailed by two runs.
Barishal opening pair Saif Hasan and Ibrahim Zadran had made a good start, particularly Saif who struck four sixes before getting out scoring 31 off 19.
Sylhet's ground fielding was sloppy in the powerplay as they dropped easy catches of both the openers.
Zadran scored 42 and captain Shakib al Hasan made 29 off 19 but Raja bowled a crucial 14th over where he cleaned up both the batters.
Apart from Raza's three wickets, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mohammad Amir bagged a couple of wickets each for Sylhet.
Earlier in the first innings, Sylhet were in trouble initially as they lost their top-order and were struggling on 15 for three after just two overs.
Opener Zakir Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim departed for golden ducks while in-form Towhid Hridoy also got out on four after making his return from injury.
But Nazmul Hossain Shanto at the other end halted the slide and batted sensibly to build up the momentum.
After 10 overs, Sylhet were 62 for three but in the latter part, they scored more than 100.
Shanto and Tom Moores formed an 81-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which turned the tables for Sylhet, and some quick runs in the late overs helped them post a challenging score of 173 for the loss of five wickets.
Shanto played brilliantly, upping the tempo of his batting after reaching his fifty before playing some brilliant shots in slog overs.
The southpaw was unbeaten on 89 off 66 deliveries with 11 fours and one six while Moores (40) And Thisara Perrera (21) gave support to take the score past 170-mark.
Shanto was adjudged player-of-the-match for his brilliant batting.
With their sixth win from seven games, Sylhet are sitting at the top of the standings with 12 points, while Barishal have 10 points from the same number of games as the Strikers.
23RD MATCH
Sylhet Strikers 173/5 (Shanto 89*, Wasim 3/34) beat Fortune Barishal 171/8 (Zadran 42, Raja 3/41) by two runs
