Ctg face Dhaka after opening-day thrillers

The thrillers that the first two matches of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup produced on the opening day on Tuesday provided much-needed succour for cricket fans as it marked the proper resumption of competitive cricket in the country since it was rocked by the Covid-19 outbreak in March.

There was drama, agony and, most importantly, some good cricket from all four teams, which raised the bar for the coming days.

Gazi Group Chattogram will be play their first game against Beximco Dhaka in today's second game and will definitely need to hit the ground running and be prepared for some action-packed cricket.

Loaded with some of the country's most highly rated players in the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain and Taijul Islam, Chattogram looks to be a good unit. Led by Mohammad Mithun, Chattogram also has a fine blend of youth and experience from the domestic circuit.

But having the best team may not be enough, as was proved when young Najmul Hossain's Minister Rajshahi managed to thump a rather strong Dhaka, led by Mushfiqur Rahim, while defending 169.

Rajshahi's Mahedi Hasan put in a fine all-around performance where, first hitting a fifty and then bowling a magnificent last over, in which he bowled five dot balls to Muktar Ali, who had just scored 21 in the 19th over. It was his intelligent bowling and expert execution that condemned Dhaka a two-run defeat when they needed nine to win off the last over.

Young skipper Najmul will be oozing with confidence when they take on another big team on paper in the day's first game, the Mahmudullah-Riyad led Gemcon Khulna, who had narrowly escaped a defeat against Fortune Barishal on the opening day.

On the day that Shakib Al Hasan returned to competitive cricket, it was teammate Ariful Haque who stole the show as Khulna needed 22 off the last over while chasing 153. The hard-hitting right-hander smashed four sixes off Mehedi Hasan Miraz to clinch a scintillating victory.

Back to today's second game, Chattogram skipper Mithun said what matters most is the team that plays well on the given day.

"Before the opening day of the tournament, everyone was trying to figure out which one is the strongest team on paper. But after watching the game on the other day, it was clear that playing well on the given day actually matters. The wicket looks pretty good and if it remains the same there will be good cricket as the tournament progresses," Mithun told reporters yesterday.

From Dhaka's point of view, they will definitely look to come back strongly today and Muktar Ali will be one of the key players for them after picking up three wickets with his medium pace and almost winning the match against Rajshahi with his 16-ball 27.

Dhaka skipper Mushfiqur needs to lead the team from the front as it was his dismissal for 41 runs on the opening day that was probably the turning point.