Superstars win at last

The Sylhet Superstars overcame a huge mental barrier yesterday when they beat the Comilla Victorians by four wickets at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) yesterday.

While it seemed as though the Superstars would cruise to a win, courtesy of an 87-run stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Ravi Bopara, a brilliant spell of bowling from young pacer Abu Hider however ensured that the match went right down the wire.

Sylhet required four runs in the last over with six wickets in hand. However, as the over progressed, Bopara, who had just reached his 50 in the previous over, got himself caught at long-on, while a nervous Shehan Jayasuriya saw his stumps get uprooted with a length delivery.

With three runs required off the last three balls, Nazmul Hossain Milon arrived at the crease and smacked one for six over the bowlers head to bring end to the drama.

It was Sylhet's first victory of the tournament – in their firth match -- and they have Ravi Bopara, who had earlier scalped four wickets, to thank for. The Englishman was well supported by the skipper Mushfiqur, who scored a gritty 47 off 31 balls.

Batting first, a half-century from Ashar Zaidi helped Comilla finish on 164 for 5 in 20 overs. While a similar score might have been difficult to overcome on the dull wickets of Mirpur, the pitch at the ZACS proved to be a different story altogether.

However, Sylhet were in trouble early during the chase when they lost both Dilshan Munaweera and Mominul Haque within the first eight overs.

That's when Bopara and Mushfiqur stitched an 87-run stand for the third wicket in 9.3 overs. It was a cautious stand with calculated boundaries.

By the time Mushfiqur was bowled by Nuwan Kulasekara in the 17th over, Sylhet required just 26 runs off 18 balls. They lost two more wickets before scrambling past the finish line.

For the Victorians, young pacer Abu Hider, who finished with figures of 4 for 28, was the highlight. The youngster bowled with plenty of passion and celebrated each of his wickets with a gusto that reminded many of his skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

Earlier, Comilla rode on contributions from Liton Das, Zaidi and Imrul Kayes to post 164. Liton found form for the first time in the competition, smacking a 24-ball 42, featuring six fours and a six. His opening partner Imrul scored a 48 off 45 balls Zaidi smacked a 36-ball 53 towards the end.