Fortune Barishal held their nerve to clinch a thrilling win and consecutive titles in the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 Friday.
Tamim Iqbal’s men defeated Chittagong Kings by three wickets at a packed Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Chasing 195 to win, Barishal lost seven wickets but chased down the target successfully in the end as the match went to the final over.
Skipper Tamim showed his class and experience in the big game and played a captain’s knock of 54 off just 29 deliveries.
The left-hander smashed nine fours and one six and took the pressure off early with brilliant strokeplay all around.
Pacer Shoriful Islam brought Chittagong back in the clash in the ninth over by taking the crucial wicket of Tamim before removing the in-form Dawid Malan (one) in the same over.
The West Indies all-rounder Kyle Mayers then played an important innings in the middle stages as the left-handed power hitter scored 46 off 28, keeping the asking rate under control.
Barishal lost a couple of wickets along the way but their chase was on track in the middle overs.
But Shoriful again struck twice in the 18th over, dismissing Mayers and Mahmudullah (seven off 11) to give Chittagong hope.
Twenty runs were needed from the last two overs.
Rishad Hossain turned out to be the hero, smashing two breathless sixes in the last two overs to guide Barishal home with three deliveries to spare.
Rishad faced just six balls and hammered 18 with two sixes and a three in his short innings.
Tamim was adjudged player of the final for his superb innings at the top.
Earlier, Barishal captain Tamim won the toss and elected to field.
The Kings were off to a solid start as they garnered 57 runs in the powerplay.
Parvez Hossain Emon was destructive initially as the southpaw hoicked 32 off just 15 deliveries with three boundaries and two sixes.
Later, his opening partner Khawaja Nafay also joined the party as the Pakistani recruit blasted 66 off 44 balls with seven boundaries and three maximums before getting out in the 13th over.
By that time, the port city outfit were in a strong position and marching towards a big total as the opening stand put on 121 overs in 12.3 overs.
No 3 batter Graham Clark (44 off 23) carried the momentum from the good start and kept the scoreboard ticking along with quick runs despite struggling with an injury.
Emon continued his strokeplay alongside Clark and added 70 for the second wicket.
Emon remained unbeaten till the end, scoring 78 off 49 deliveries with half a dozen fours and four sixes.
Barishal bowled well in the death overs to restrict Chittagong below 200.
Mohammad Ali particularly was accurate with his line and length as the medium pacer conceded just 21 runs in his four overs, and also picked up a wicket on a solid batting track.
BPL FINAL
Chittagong Kings 194/3 (Emon 78*, Nafay 66, Ali 1/21) lost to Fortune Barishal 195/7 in 19.3 overs (Tamim 54, Mayers 46, Shoriful 4/34) by 3 wickets
