Dhaka Dynamites knocked Chittagong Vikings out of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), winning the Eliminator match by six wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.
The bowlers laid the foundation before the batsmen got the job done comfortably after restricting Chittagong to just 135 as Shakib Al Hasan’s men live to fight another day in this tournament. Having bagged four wickets with the ball, Sunil Narine (31 off 16) gave Dhaka a flying start following the exchange. Upul Tharanga and Rony Talukdar kept the pressure on the bowlers with a 44-run stand for the second wicket.
There was something to cheer for Chittagong when Khaled Ahmed removed Rony and Shakib (0) off back-to-back deliveries to bag his third of the match but in the end their total was just too small. Tharanga fell after notching a 43-ball 51 and Kieron Pollard along with Nurul Hasan saw Dhaka coast to victory with 20 deliveries to spare. Dhaka will meet the loser of the first qualifying match between Rangpur Riders and Comilla Victorians for a place in the final.
Earlier, Chittagong were undone by Sunil Narine in the middle overs of the crucial eliminator match. The Vikings lost Yasir Ali early, out nicking a Rubel Hossain delivery through to the wicket-keeper. Cameron Delport (36 off 27) looked strong before confusion while running between the wicket led to his run-out. The run-rate dropped significantly in the middle overs due to loss of two more wickets. Mushfiqur Rahim fell cheaply, dragging a Narine delivery onto his stumps before Shadman fell to Narine too.
Mosaddek Hossain was the lone man standing -- back following an injury -- and he struck a 35-ball 40 before being run-out in the penultimate delivery of the final over.
Robbie Frylinck, back after sitting on the sidelines due to injury, did not provide the impact this time around in the death overs, falling to Narine after scoring just a run as Chittagong posted only 135 on the board for the loss of eight wickets.
