Victorians end Bulls' streak
A brilliant bowling performance on a slow Mirpur track led Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's Comilla Victorians to their second consecutive win of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
While Mahmudullah Riyad's Barisal Bulls did defend a 108 the day before, they failed to repeat the magic after being bundled out for just 89 runs yesterday. The total set by the Bulls was the lowest score by a team batting first in current BPL.
It therefore was no surprise when the Victorians ambled their way to an eight-wicket victory.
The damage initially began with Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara taking two scalps in as early as the second over. He got both Shahriar Nafees and Brendon Taylor caught behind. Skipper Mahmudullah was the next batsman to follow as he was undone by a full-length delivery from 19-year-old left-arm pacer Abu Hider. Two overs later, Hider hit the stumps again; this time to remove Rony Talukdar.
At 36 for 4, the Bulls were under pressure and the runs almost dried up. They did still have hope with the hard-hitting Sabbir Rahman and the experienced Nadif Chowdhury at the crease.
However, that's when Mashrafe introduced slow left-armer Ashar Zaidi into the attack. The Pakistani bowler knew the conditions in Mirpur well for he used to be a regular in the domestic circuit here and he made full use of the experience.
He removed both Sabbir and Seekkuge Prasanna in consecutive deliveries of the 12th over and then came back in the 14th to bowl out Nadif Chowdhury.
Kevon Cooper came in next and provided a slight amount of resistance. He scored a 21-ball 22 before becoming Kulasekara's third victim.
Sunil Narine then mopped up the tail.
While the Bulls were down, they were far from being out. Going by the way they fought back in the last match, the game was far from over.
Al-Amin Hossain and Mohammad Sami once again opened the bowling striving for a repeat. However, this time the match followed a rather different path.
While Al-Amin did get Imrul Kayes out in the fourth over, Marlon Samuels and Mahmudul Hasan ensured there were no worries with a 37-run stand for the second wicket.
By the time Mahmudul was sent back in the in the 13th over, the job was almost done. Samuels and Shuvagata Hom took Comilla home with two overs to spare.
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