BPL 2015 Second Qualifier: Barisal Bulls Vs Rangpur Riders
Barisal Bulls 163 for 5 (Sabbir Rahman 79, Shahriar Nafis 44) beat Rangpur Riders 160 for 9 (Lendl Simmons 73, Kevon Cooper 4-39) by five wickets
Player of the Match: Sabbir Rahman (Barisal Bulls)
Two home grown heroes Sabbir Rahman and Shahriar Nafis batted brilliantly to take Barisal Bulls to the final of BPL 2015. Tournament favorite Rangpur Riders after two back-to-back defeats are knocked out of the tournament. The thrilling second qualifier went down to wire.
Bulls had the horses for the courses as they won with 3 balls to spare by 5 wickets. Two of their finishers Emrit and Copper were together when Bulls broke the heart of the Riders. Bulls were set a target 0f 161 as Riders batting first posted 160/9 in allotted overs.
Gayle less Bulls kept their composure. Sabbir and Shahriar turned up with brave batting performance stitching up a match winning 124 third wicket partnership.
Bulls playing delightful cricket over the last two days knocked out two of the tournament favorites Dhaka Dynamites and Rangpur Riders. Their impact player Chris Gayle left the evening before the match for joining his Big Bash T20 Australian franchise Melbourne Renegades.
Bulls won 5 of their 6 group matches without the contribution of Gayle. But losing a key player before a do or die match causes some worries. However, a back to form Sabbir and reliable Shahriar more than compensated for the loss of Gayle in batting out of their skins.
For Rangpur, it was a heart breaking defeat. They appeared to have lost their winning momentum from the match against Comilla Victorians. ICC top ranked all-rounder Shakib had another off day in the office.
Soumya’s pathetic form continued. They lost the close match. Bulls deservingly qualified for the finals against Mashrafe’s Victorians.
Winning the toss and batting, first Riders had a reasonably good start with Caribbean Lendl Simmons and local boy Abdullah Al Maun. 52 runs first wicket partnership laid the foundation and a good launching pad. But once Maun was gone in 9th over wickets fell at regular interval.
Soumya again failed to live up to his reputation. This youngster appears to have burnt out. He hardly played any innings of his class in the entire tournament. Shakib stayed with Simmons for a while. But he also failed to cause much damage.
Six out of 10 Riders batsmen failed to reach double figures. Only Simmons ploughed in the sand producing 73 in 57 deliveries. Other than a brief 23 of Daren Sammy none else contributed. All-rounder Kevon Copper took 4/39. 160/9 did not appear too bad a score to defend.
Big striking Gayles absence forced Bulls to reshuffle the batting order .Rony and Prasanna went out cheaply. At 10/2 in the third over Bulls were looking down the barrel. Rejuvenated Sabbir Rahman was joined by reliable Shahriar Nafees.
The two home grown heroes played the match winning partnership of 123 for the third wicket. Shahriar was holding the fort in one end and Shabbir played several attractive strokes. They were sailing smoothly till Nafis was caught up in a misjudged running.
In the 18th over when Shabbir also fell to a stunning catch by Sammy on the boundary rope off Perera Bulls still required 21 in the last two overs. Fortunately they had two of their finishers Emrit and Cooper to deliver. Bulls won the match with three balls to spare.
Sabbir played a sterling knock of 79 of 49 deliveries studded with 7 fours and three sixes. T20 specialist of Bangladesh has struck form at the right stage.
Shahriar Nafees made great contribution scorning a polished 44.None of the Riders bowlers looked threatening. The strong spin quartet failed to deliver.
Bulls will now meet Victorians for deciding the championship. Neither bulls nor Victorians were tipped to travel deep in the tournament. Riders, Dynamites, Superstars and Vikings looked much better after player’s recruitment.
Vikings and Superstars were gone from the group stage. Bulls knock out Riders and Dynamites. Cool customers Mashrafe and Mahmudullah led their charges efficiently and effectively. Two most deserving teams qualified for the finals. It will be a fascinating final.
Riders can only blame themselves for their knock out. We do not really understand why Misbah did not play unless he was injured. What happened to Wahab Riaz? The strategy of Riders was to rely heavily on Shakib.
Their inform batsman Jahurul got injured before important match .Yet they had the strongest bowling attack and four great all-rounders. But all failed at the right stages.
BDST: 0838 HRS, DEC 14, 2015
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