Fortune Barishal 150 for 1 (Hridoy 82*, Malan 34*) beat Chittagong Kings 149 for 9 (Shamim 79, Parvez 36, Ali 5-24) by nine wickets
Fortune Barishal became the first team to reach this season’s BPL final when they swept past Chittagong Kings with a nine-wicket win in the first qualifier. This is the franchise’s third final since the pandemic, having won the trophy last year. They await the winner of the second qualifier on Wednesday, between Khulna Tigers and Chittagong.
Mayers’ swingers dupe top-order
Captain Mohammad Mithun and Haider Ali were dismissed as they tried to counterattack, both falling to big shots in the powerplay. Hridoy took a superb catch in the deep to remove Mithun for 1, while Ebadot Hossain cleaned up a swinging Haider in the sixth over.
Shamim keeps Chittagong in the hunt
The task to recover was a big one but Shamim and Parvez added 77 runs for the fifth wicket. Parvez allowed Shamim to go for the shots, before opening up himself. He struck three fours and two sixes in his run-a-ball 36. Shamim meanwhile kept Chittagong in the contest, with his second fifty in this season’s BPL. Shamim’s nine fours and four sixes included some of his trademark sweeps, cuts and switch hits. One of his sixes was the no-look flick against the veteran offspinner Mahmudullah.
Ali takes four in an over
Till this point, Ali bowled three steady overs, picking up one wicket. Bowling the penultimate over, there was a bit of pressure on him, but Shamim, Chittagong’s last recognised batter, wanted to get on strike too. Ali bowled his back of the hand slower ball to remove Khaled Ahmed, before Shamim’s attempted switch hit found Ebadot at short third. Arafat Sunny and Aliss Al Islam were also undone by Ali’s slower balls, who ended up taking four wickets in the 19th over.
Hridoy anchors Barishal chase
Hridoy and Tamim Iqbal added 55 runs for the opening stand, steadying their 150-run chase in the first nine overs. Tamim fell for 29 off 26 balls, with four boundaries, when Nafay took the catch in the deep off Khaled’s bowling. Dawid Malan was attacking from the word go, which allowed Hridoy to go for the shots. He struck four boundaries and a six when he reached his fifty off 45 balls.
