Mahedi stars again for Dhaka

All-rounder Mahedi Hasan once again shone bright with the bat alongside Tamim Iqbal to guide Dhaka Platoon to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Sylhet Thunder in the days’ first encounter of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.

In chase of a 175-run target, Mahedi started from where he left in the previous game against Cumilla Warriors and struck a second blistering fifty on the trot, this time with Tamim Iqbal joining him as Dhaka won with nine balls to spare.

It was Dhaka’s fourth win in six games, while Sylhet crumbled to their fifth loss in six matches after notching their first win of the tournament in the previous game.

Dhaka made a steady start as openers Tamim and Anamul Haque added 58 runs before the latter departed for 32. It was then that Mahedi took on Sylhet’s bowlers as he added 87 runs for the second wicket along with Tamim to set the stage for an easy win.

Mahedi played the role of the aggressor and reached his second fifty of the tournament off just 23 balls before being dismissed for 56 off 28 balls, which featured three sixes and five fours.

At the other end, Tamim looked composed and took Dhaka home with an unbeaten 60 off 49 deliveries, which included five fours and two sixes.

In the process Tamim became the first batsman to reach 2,000 runs in the BPL, ending on 2,029 runs in 63 innings. Mushfiqur Rahim is in second place with 1,937 runs.

Sylhet used seven bowlers but surprisingly skipper Mosaddek Hossain did not introduce left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam until the 13th over of the innings. Mosaddek later said he had delayed Nazmul’s introduction because the left-handed Tamim was at the wicket, despite the fact that the other bowlers proved ineffective.

Earlier, Sylhet opted to bat after winning the toss and had a shaky start that saw them lose opener Andre Fletcher for a golden duck and Abdul Mazid for just eight runs. However, the innings was stabilised with a 45-ball 73 from Johnson Charles and an unbeaten 49 by Mohammad Mithun as Sylhet posted 174 for four.

Dhaka’s Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi bagged two while his countryman and fellow leg-spinner Shadab Khan and Mahedi picked up a wicket each.