BPL 2015, Comilla Victorians vs Barisal Bulls, final at Dhaka Preview: Stage set for exciting finale

The Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls face-off in the grand finale of the 2015 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday. Comilla and Barisal, led by Bangladesh limited-overs skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and Mahmudullah, finished first and third respectively in the group stage of the third edition of the tournament. Comilla Victorians thrashed Rangpur Riders by a massive margin of 72 runs in Qualifier 1 of the tournament, while Barisal managed to overcome Dhaka Dynamites by 18 runs, before chasing the 161-run target set by the Shakib Al Hasan-led Rangpur in style with five wickets to spare.

Both Comilla and Barisal, along with Rangpur, were tied on 14 points after seven wins and three defeats in the points table at the end of the round-robin stage. The Victorians however, finished on top of the table due to their superior net run-rate, which was boosted with their dominant 71-run victory over Sylhet Super Stars in the penultimate match of the the group stage. Comilla defeated Barisal by big margins of eight and seven wickets respectively in both group encounters, giving Comilla the mental edge ahead of the final.

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The biggest strength for Comilla ahead of the final is in their bowling attack, with Abu Hider exhibiting brilliant form to top the bowling charts at the moment. Hider, along with Asher Zaidi and Nuwan Kulasekara, have been effective throughout the tournament — bowling both Barisal and Rangpur out for less than 100 in the group stage. They had to deal with a major loss when prolific run-scorer and all-rounder Marlon Samuels, who had to leave the tournament mid-way for Australia, where national team West Indies play the hosts in a Test series.

Barisal, on the other hand, have been dealt with a major blow in the form of Chris Gayle leaving for the Big Bash League (BBL), which is to begin shortly in Australia. The team however, were impressive in the second qualifier against Rangpur, with Sabbir Rahman scoring 41 and 79 respectively in the eliminator and the second qualifier respectively, while Shahriar Nafees scored an impressive 44. Kevon Cooper has been equally consistent with the ball and is currently the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, while Rayad Emrit, who has been a great asset in the middle-order, helping the side pull off a narrow two-wicket win over Dhaka Dynamites in the final group game with a memorable unbeaten 54.

Squads:

Barisal Bulls: Evin Lewis, Rony Talukdar (Wk), Mehedi Maruf, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah (c), Nadif Chowdhury, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Sami, Al-Amin Hossain, Taijul Islam, Sharifullah, Shahriar Nafees, Sajedul Islam, Chris Gayle, Brendan Taylor, Nikhil Dutta, Imad Wasim.

Comilla Victorians: Abu Hider, Ahmed Shehzad, Alok Kapali, Ariful Haque, Ashar Zaidi, Dolar Mahmud, Imrul Kayes, Nuwan Kulasekara, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudul Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mukhtar Ahmed, Naeem Islam jnr, K Santokie, Shoaib Malik, Shuvagata Hom, Darren Stevens, Sunzamul Islam.

Time: 18:30 local│18:00 IST│12:30 GMT