Barishal defeats Cumilla to win their first BPL championship.
In a one-sided final played on Friday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Fortune Barishal defeated the four-time champion Cumilla Victorians by six wickets to win the Bangladesh Premier League for the first time.
On the big day, the Barishal bowlers bowled brilliantly limiting the star-studded Cumilla batting lineup to 154-6 in their 20 overs after they chose to bowl first in a crowded stadium.
James Fuller is a bowler for Barishal finished with 2-43 and Obed McCoy, Kyle Mayers and Muhammad Saifuddin each claimed one wicket. Mahidul Islam Ankon scored the highest score for Cumilla 38 off 35 balls while Jaker Ali Anik and Andre Russell both managed to stay undefeated at 27 and 20 runs respectively.
In response, Barishal got off to a flying start, with skipper Tamim Iqbal and Mehidy Hasan Miraz putting up 76 runs in the first eight overs before the former was removed for 39 off 26 balls.
Mehedi (29) became Moeen Ali’s second victim in the match but in-form Mayers struck 46 off 30 balls, while Mushfiqur Rahim (13), Mahmudullah and David Miller scored the remaining runs to take Barishal to 157-4 in 19 overs, handing Cumilla their first defeat in a BPL final after four consecutive victories.
Earlier, Cumilla could have thought of making a 170-plus total when Russell blasted Fuller three sixes in the penultimate over but Saifuddin produced a superb final over in which he gave just seven runs despite bowling four extras limiting Cumilla to a manageable score.
Cumilla got off to a bad start, losing opener Sunil Narine (five) in the first over before Fuller removed in-form Tawhid Hridoy (15) and Liton Das (16) during the powerplay.
Cumilla’s middle-order hitters subsequently failed to accelerate their batting throughout the middle overs of their innings and they also lost the wickets of Johnson Charles (17) and Moeen (3) giving Barishal control of the game. Mahidul produced a valiant innings but his fight came to an end when Saifuddin bowled him in the 17th over bringing Russell to the wicket. Russell then smashed four sixes in his 14-ball 27-run innings but it only helped Cumilla reach a decent total that wasn’t enough to defend in the end.
