Having reached his fifty off 31 deliveries, Tamim Iqbal then completed his ton off 50 deliveries in the all-important Bangladesh Premier League final against Dhaka Dynamites as Comilla Vikings posted 199 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.
The going was not easy but he bided his time after opening partner Evin Lewis had perished to Rubel Hossain early. He struck his first boundary off Sunil Narine -- a six over mid on –in the fifth over in what was a slow start for the Victorians. He then accelerated with two brilliantly struck boundaries off Shakib Al Hasan in the next over. He got a life as Dhaka wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan dropped him in the eight over bowled by Qazi Onik.
He showed his grit and ambition by making the most of the chances.
During the ninth over of the innings, Tamim went down the track to Rubel and smacked it towards long-on. Andre Russell moved forward and it appeared that he had taken a brilliant catch running in from deep but the fielder himself asked for a replay and it revealed that the ball had bounced just in front of Russell’s hand. Tamim did not look back hit a four and a six off back-t-back deliveries to complete his fifty off 31 deliveries hitting a four and a six off back-to-back deliveries off Shuvagata Hom.
The onslaught really began since the 14th over when he hit Mahmudul Hasan for six off the last delivery. He proceeded to pick Rubel off for 23 runs in the next over two fours and the same number of sixes. The first went over long-on for four. A simple flick off the wrist saw the next one sail for six over deep square-leg. A good old-fashioned slog went over third-man for four and then he middled the final delivery too as it sailed and sailed over long-on for the second six off the over.
He then brought up his ton with a six and a four as it appeared that he was executing everything he was trying out there at the death overs. Having reached his ton, he proceeded to hit five more sixes along with two more fours.
When his innings came to an end, he had hit an enoromous 10 fours and an incredible 11 sixes during his 61-ball unbeaten 141. It was an innings of class and it came in the most imortant match of the tournament. Following his fifty, he had scored an incredible 88 runs off the last 30 deliveries he faced.
His innings comprised of more than half the team's runs in what was also the second-highest score in BPL history -- only behind Chris Gayle, who hit 146 in last edition's final, also against Dhaka. Comilla rode on Tamim's incredible first-ever BPL hundred to post 199 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets. It is to be noted that none of the of the other Comilla batsman scored with a strike rate of over 100. The Mirpur pitch has not been producing a lot of runs either. Tamim changed the pitch too. Safe to say that the Bangladesh opener made the best of his first-ever BPL final.
