Barishal’s batting failure hands Dhaka first win

Yesterday's first Bangabandhu T20 Cup saw yet another low-scoring encounter as Beximco Dhaka registered their first win by beating Fortune Barishal by seven wickets in Mirpur.

Chasing a small target of 109 runs, Dhaka took the game to the 19th over when Yasir Ali and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim's unbeaten 55-run fifth-wicket stand sealed the win.

Both batsmen opted for a steady approach after the team lost three wickets for 54. Yasir was the more enterprising of the two and remained unbeaten on 44 off 30 balls, hitting his second six of the innings to score the winning runs.

However, after a thrilling opening day, the standard of cricket has continued to dip, especially in the batting department. After being asked to bat first, Barishal's batsmen never seemed up to the task as they limped to 108 for eight. It speaks to the batting failures that Minister Rajshahi's 169 for nine on the opening day against Dhaka -- on the same pitch as the one used for this match -- remains the highest score in the tournament.

Barishal shuffled their order, bringing in Saif Hasan to open the innings in place of Mehedi Hasan Miraz, who failed in the first three games, but the result was the same.

Saif was the first to be dismissed when the right-hander went for a sweep to a rather full delivery from off-spinner Robiul Islam and was adjudged leg-before after a review from the bowler.

Skipper Tamim Iqbal, who has been in relatively good form, got an early life when he was dropped at extra cover by Muktar Ali and had to adjust his approach as he kept losing partners at the other end.

There has been talk about the Mirpur wicket getting slower but yesterday, it was the Barishal batsmen who had themselves to blame for their inability to rotate the strike.

Robiul ended up with four wickets but not with the best of deliveries as the Barishal batters put themselves under pressure after playing a lot of dot balls. Off-spinner, Nayeem Hasan, gave away just eight runs from his four overs and picked up a wicket.

With the score on 65 in the 12th over, Tamim felt the pressure and was the fifth to depart, handing a simple catch at deep midwicket going for a pull off a short-pitched Robiul delivery after scoring a run-a-ball 31. It was Towhid Hridoy's 33 in the middle that helped Barishal go past the hundred mark in the end.