Last-ball win for Vikings this time
The thrill it seems is never ending. For the second consecutive day, the Bangladesh Premier League's day fixture witnessed a tantalising finish. Although the match between Tamim Iqbal's Chittagong Vikings and Mushfiqur Rahim's Sylhet Superstars began late, the ending was worth the wait.
Chittagong scrambled to a one-run win yesterday, denying Mushfiqur a chance to celebrate his unbeaten 50. Such was the intensity of the game that Tamim held onto the ball after the last delivery and stayed near the wicket to ask the umpire if play was finally dead.
It was only after he got the umpire's nod that he jumped in the air and celebrated the win.
Batting first, the Vikings posted a competitive 180, courtesy of half-centuries from Yasir Ali and Tamim. However, they were far from comfortable because they had lost from an even stronger position against Rangpur Riders the previous day.
And after the exchange it seemed as though they were headed for another defeat as Sylhet opener Dilshan Munaweera single-handedly tore apart Chittagong's opening bowlers. He smacked a 30-ball 64 and it was an innings that witnessed 13 fours and a six.
Six of those 13 fours in fact came in the second over when he absolutely destroyed his senior colleague Tillakaratne Dilshan.
At the end of six overs, they were at 65 for no loss and in a perfect position to chase down the total. But that was when the wickets began to tumble. In the next two overs they lost three wickets, including the crucial one of Munaweera.
From 65 for no loss, they were 76 for 3 and the flow of runs seemed to be throttled. However, Mushfiqur Rahim and Nurul Hasan -- after initially taking their time to get set -- started to take the attack to the bowlers to put Sylhet on top again.
The onslaught began in the 13th over when Nurul came down the track thrice and played baseball-esque hits to smack Taskin Ahmed for a six and two fours. However, once Nurul was out, it was all up to Mushfiqur.
Mushfiqur did well, but didn't receive support from the other end which eventually left Sylhet requiring 21 runs off 12 deliveries. Mushfiqur smacked a six and brought the equation down to nine from six. He beautifully drove Mohammad Amir through the covers for a four in the penultimate ball, but got just one from the last ball of the match when he required three for a win.
Earlier, Tamim smacked six fours and four sixes to post a 45-ball 69 to guide the Vikings.
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