Shoaib Malik put in an all-round display to inspire Fortune Barishal to a five-wicket win as table-toppers Khulna Tigers suffered their first defeat in the 2024 Bangladesh Premier League in the penultimate match of the Sylhet phase Saturday.
Khulna are still top though with eight points from five games while Barishal are outside the playoff places at fifth with six points from as many matches.
Invited to bat first, the Tigers posted 155 runs losing eight wickets with contributions from Mohammad Nawaz (38*), Parvez Hossain Emon (33) and Faheem Ashraf.
Taijul Islam and player of the match Malik bagged two wickets each.
In reply, Barishal reached their destination with two balls to spare with Malik remaining unbeaten on 41 and Mehedi Hasan Miraz not out on 31.
Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar and captain Tamim Iqbal chipped in with 27, 26 and 20 respectively.
Faheem took three wickets to go with his 32-run knock earlier but his efforts were ultimately trumped by his compatriot Malik.
19TH MATCH
Khulna Tigers 155/8 (Nawaz 38*, Taijul 2/7) lost to Fortune Barishal 156/5 in 19.4 overs (Malik 41*, Faheem 3/18) by 5 wickets
