The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will enter its most crucial segment today with just four more days to go before the next round of the competition, officially known as the Race to the Final. The way things stand at the moment, Dhaka Gladiators and Sylhet Royals with 14 points each, have already confirmed their progress to the round and will most likely end up maintaining the first and second positions on the table.
The Race to the Final will be a round featuring three matches; the winner in the match between the group phase leaders and runners-up will go to the final, while the loser will take on the winner of the match between the 3rd- and 4th-placed teams in the semifinal.
It'll be a tussle for the two other qualifying spots between the Chittagong Kings, Duronto Rajshahi and Rangpur Riders. Barisal Burners on the other hand will have to win all of their last three games in order to make it through.
Dhaka will try to extend their lead at the top of the table when they face Khulna Royal Bengals in today's first game, and Duronto Rajshahi will take on the Rangpur Riders in the evening in a must-win match for both teams.
It was an eventful week at the BPL. From Shamsur Rahman's brilliantly made 98 in a match which saw the Sylhet Royals chase down a record target of 197 to a near boycott by Rajshahi's foreign players, the competition has so far seen both sides of the coin in terms of how it has been perceived by the public. With the business end of the tournament approaching, the intensity can only rise from here.