Published: Dec 05, 2016, 02:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 05, 2016, 02:30 PM (IST)
The ongoing T20 extravaganza Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2016-17 has entered the qualifying rounds with Dhaka Dynamites, Khulna Titans, Chittagong Vikings and Rajshahi Kings making it to next stage. Dynamites finished the league stage on top with 8 wins from 12 games. Titans ended on second spot with 7 victories whereas Vikings and Kings showed remarkable turnarounds ending on the 3rd and 4th position respectively. While table-toppers Dynamites and Titans will clash for Qualifier 1, Vikings and Kings still have a job in hand to move to Qualifier 2 by surviving the Eliminator. READ: BPL 2016: Sabbir Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain fined for hosting female guests in hotel room
The loser of the Eliminator (as the name suggests) will be out of the tournament but the winner will still have to win Qualifier 2 to earn a place in the final. It has been a rollicking ride for both Vikings and Kings as they started off on an unpleasant note but recovered to reach the playoffs. Both sides finished with equal number of wins and losses and their head-to-head record also stands level in this edition so far. With not much to separate among both sides, it promises to be a riveting encounter.
In the two clashes so far, Vikings won the first match whereas Kings came back hard in the last battle. Talking about their first game, Vikings thrashed Kings by 19 runs after posting 190 for 5 in 20 overs. Mohammad Nabi’s 87 and Anamul Haque’s 50 propelled team to a high score. In reply, Darren Sammy’s side ended on 171 for 9. Taskin Ahmed’s 5-for enabled his side to a memorable win by jolting the run-chase.
In match no. 40, Tamim Iqbal’s side again came up against Sammy’s Kings. Kings prevailed by 6 wickets. Batting first, Vikings were restricted to 111 for 9 with only Shoaib Malik standing tall. Afif Hossain’s 5-wicket haul pushed his side closer to a win by having a small target to chase. James Franklin and Monimul Haque made merry of the target in hand to settle scores with Vikings.
Nonetheless, all the efforts of Vikings and Kings will be blown away with a loss in this match. To prevent that, both sides will have to weather the storm and emerge on top.
Squads:
Chittagong Vikings: Abdur Razzak, Anamul Haque (wk), Chaturanga de Silva, Grant Elliott, Chris Gayle, Imran Khan jnr, Jahurul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Jeevan Mendis, Tymal Mills, Mohammad Nabi, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Saqlain Sajib, Shahidul Islam, Shoaib Malik, Dwayne Smith, Subashis Roy, Tamim Iqbal (c), Taskin Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Zakir Hasan
Rajshahi Kings: Abul Hasan, Ebadat Hossain, Farhad Reza, Mehedi Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Mominul Haque, Nazmul Islam, Nurul Hasan, Samit Patel, Raqibul Hasan, Rony Talukdar, Sabbir Rahman, Salman Hossain , Darren Sammy (c), Milinda Siriwardana, Upul Tharanga
Time: 13:00 Local| IST 12:30
