Published: Nov 29, 2016, 04:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 29, 2016, 08:37 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Match No. 33 between Chittagong Vikings and Khulna Titans, of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2016. The journey of these two teams in this T20 entertainment has been staggering, giving other teams a run for their money. Placed at No. 2, Titans have emerged victorious in 6 out of 9 games and need one more to book a place in the playoffs. On the other hand, Vikings are placed just below them and will look to beat them, to replace them at the second spot in the points table.
In the previous contest between these two teams, Titans came up triumphant by 4 runs in a last-over thriller. After calling it right at the toss, Vikings invited Titans to bat first. The gameplan paid off, as Titans could churn out only 127 for 7 in 20 overs, courtesy Mohammad Nabi’s 3 for 22. For that matter, the track appeared on slower side, making it difficult for the batsmen to score runs with ease. However, the late-order attack from Alok Kapali, Nicholas Pooran and Ariful Haque propelled Titans to what turned out to be a respectable total, given the nature of the track.
In reply, Titans reduced Vikings to 54 for 5 in 11.5 overs, thanks to Kevon Cooper’s top-drawer bowling. All the same, Nabi left no stone unturned to steady the sinking ship and stitched a 45-run stand with Chaturanga de Silva.
The match went down the wire. Vikings needed 6 off the last over. And captain Mahmudullah decided to take the centre stage and bowled the ultimate over of the match. It is not an easy task, mind you. Mahmudullah, nonetheless, took three wickets and conceded only a run and took his team to a 4-run victory.
All in all, Vikings will look to win today’s contest and settle the scores.
Squad:
Chittagong Vikings: Abdur Razzak, Anamul Haque, Chaturanga de Silva, Grant Elliott, Christ Gayle, Imran Khan, 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, Taskin Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Zakir Hasan
Khulna Titans: Mahmudullah (c), Abdul Halim, Abdul Mazid, Abu Sayeem, Alok Kapali, Ariful Haque, Kevon Cooper, Adrian Fletcher, Hasanuzzaman, Benny Howell, Junaid Khan, B Laughlin, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Saddam, Mosharraf Hossain, Naeem Islam, Nur Alam, N Pooran, Shafiul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Lendl Simmons, Taibur Rahman, Riki Wessels
