The Sylhet Strikers continued their impressive winning streak in the current season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), beating the most successful team in the tournament, the Comilla Victorians, by a margin of five wickets on Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The Sylhet Strikers, led by former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, achieved their third consecutive victory, while the Comilla Victorians suffered their second consecutive defeat, according to UNB.
The Victorians batted first and put up a formidable 149 runs for the loss of six wickets. In response, the Strikers successfully chased down the target of 150 with five wickets still in hand at the end of 17.4 overs.
Mohammad Haris, the Pakistani opener of the Sylhet Strikers, fell short of expectations, scoring only six off three deliveries. Abu Hider broke the opening stand with his early dismissal. However, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy then stitched together a good partnership, providing a strong platform for the Strikers to build on.
Najmul scored 19 runs off 21 balls, while Towhid remained steadfast in the middle, smashing a 56 from just 37 deliveries, with three fours and four sixes. His performance was truly remarkable against a quality Victorians bowling attack, which includes the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Mohammad Nabi. It was a triumphant day for the batter.
Zakir Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim scored 20 and 28 runs respectively, helping the Strikers secure the victory.
For the Victorians, Mohammad Nabi and Khushdil Shah put up a valiant effort, bagging two wickets each, but it was not enough to avoid a defeat.
Earlier, Jaker Ali aided the Victorians in setting a challenging total of 149. He scored 57 off 43 balls, hitting two fours and three sixes. Dawid Malan also performed well, scoring 37, but it was not enough to meet the Comilla Victorians' expectations. Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera and Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir bagged two wickets for Sylhet Strikers, while Mashrafe and Imad Wasim scalped one wicket each.