BPL 2015 Eliminator: Barisal Bulls Vs Dhaka Dynamites Played at SBNCS on 12December 2015
Barisal Bulls 135/5 (Sabbir Rahman 41, Mahmudullah Raid 37, Chris Gayle 31, Mushfiqur Rahman 2/21) Beat Dhaka Dynamites 118/8( Al Amin Hussain 3/18, KK Copper 3/17, Taijul Islam 2/ 13) by 17 Runs
Player of the Match: Al Amin Hossain (Barisal Bulls)
A fascinating display of power hitting by Sabbir and Chris Gayle and brilliant bowling of Al Amin and Kevin Cooper caused Bulls prevail over Dynamites in the eliminator of BPL2015.
Bulls will now play Rangpur Riders to qualify for the final to be played against Comilla Victorians. Bulls scored 135/5 in their allotted overs.
Dynamites in response could reach 118/8 losing by 17 runs .A very strong Dhaka team crashed out of the tournament.
Winning the toss and bowling first has become a trend in BPL 2015. Dynamites could have taken a leaf out of the first match when Rangpur Riders opting to chase early in the afternoon crashed out.
In a nerve breaking crucial encounter it was better batting first and setting a target for the opponent to chase. As it turned out Dynamites failed to overhaul a moderate target in front of jam-packed fans cheering at full throat.
The best advertisement of limited version Cricket Chris Gayle blasted 31 in 19 deliveries setting the tone of the day. Local blaster Sabbir started scoring 1 in his first 13 deliveries but then outscored great Gayle even striking his next 40 in 26 deliveries.
This two added 70 in only 50 deliveries. Between them, they blasted 7 fours and 5 towering sixes. At one stage, Gayle was starved of the strikes. Majestic Mustafiz fooling Gayle with his cutter caused a mini tremor in Bulls camp. Run scoring became a hard task.
Fortunately, for Bulls they had cool customer captain Mahamudullah anchoring the innings. His 37 paved the way for a competitive score of 135/5. Wonder boy Mustafiz even in the onslaught of Bulls early order batsmen proved a very difficult bowler to collar.
His prized scalp was Gayle whom he clean bowled. In the final overs he also got the important wicket of Mahmudullah. 135 appeared at least 15 runs short at mid-way of the match.
Dynamites required a good start and batting to a plan. But very accurate and penetrative Al Amin and Kevin Cooper made early inroads. Al Amin removing Sangakkara and Nasir Hossain in quick interval pegged back the Dynamites chase.
Being reduced to 5/59 in the 14th over Dynamites was looking down the barrel. However, Steady Musaddek and belligerent Waller brought dynamites back to track. But Taijul bowling a very important 18 th over removed both.
26 runs were required from the final two overs to win. It was way too much for the tail Enders. Bulls won by 17 runs. In BPL 2015 Bulls defeated Dynamites in three matches they played against each other.
Dhaka Franchise owned by BEXIMCO Group got eliminated. Many in BCB perhaps would have loved to see them in the finals. Bulls set a date with Rangpur Riders for qualifications as second finalist.
Al Amin (3/18) and Kevon Copper (3/17) did most of the damage and Taijul (2/13) put the last nail in the coffin. Al Amin was adjudged the player of match.
Bulls reached the position where they are by their committed team performance. After the players recruitment Bulls were not even considered going deep into the tournament. Yet they performed admirably even before their superstar and impact player Gayle joined them.
It was great to see Bangladesh T20 specialist Sabbir finally came to his own. He was at his brilliant best yesterday playing few of his signature aggressive strokes. It won’t be surprising finding Bulls reaching finals and giving Victorians a very hard time.
They possess some very destructive batsmen, steady Mahamudullah to anchor and batsman like Emrit as finisher. Al Amin and Copper are wicket takers and Sami as a strike bowler.
Dynamites had great bowling attack. Mustafiz remained a mystery bowler throughout the tournament. Yasir Shah also showed his class. But Dhaka batting was a bit thin. They can only blame themselves for getting eliminated as they relied almost exclusively on Sangakkara for batting.
Dhaka franchise won the last two edition of BPL under the leadership of one and only Mashrafe. This time Mashrafe is driving Comilla Victorians finalist waiting for Bulls or Riders to take upon.
BDST: 08 HRS, DEC 13, 2015
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