Comilla beat Dhaka by 10 runs

Comilla Victorians managed to defend 141 by 10 runs against Dhaka Dynamites today and went straight to the top of the points table with four wins out of six matches.

Thirties from Kumar Sangakkara and Nasir Hossain kept Dhaka in the game but they lost wickets too regularly for their liking.

Abu Hider of Comilla showed why he is considered a rare talent with two crucial wickets in his four overs. Shuvagata and Mashrafe picked up a wicket each.

When Waller was sent back in the 19th over, Dhaka needed 17 from the last over. Comilla captain Mashrafe brought Kulasekara and the Sri Lankan didn’t disappoint his skipper.

Kulasekara was on the money and Dhaka only managed six runs from the last six balls to lose their third match in this tournament.

Ryan ten Doeschate of Dhaka tried to bring the long handle into play, but the slowness of the surface made it extremely difficult for him to time his shots.

He fell in the 17th over for 11 when Mashrafe Mortaza fooled him with a slower ball, and the fielder at deep square-leg made no mistake.

With 43 runs needed from 27 balls remaining in the match, Dhaka lost an important wicket when Abu Hider of Comilla got rid of Nasir Hossain.

Nasir came down the track, went through with his shot but skied it to cover where Mashrafe Morataza held on to a difficult catch.

The Bangladeshi allrounder made 32 from 30 balls with two sixes. He needed to stay at the crease to take Dhaka home.

Brilliant piece of fielding from Comilla wicketkeeper Liton Das saw the back of Dhaka skipper Kumar Sangakkara in the 11th over to put the Victorians firmly in control.

Nasir called for a single, Kumar sprinted for the run but failed to beat an acrobatic throw by Liton, who had only a single stump to aim from side-on. Dhaka needed 71 from 54 balls when their skipper was run-out.

Sanga scored 30 from 27 balls with four boundaries, and his presence at the crease gave Dhaka fans hope for victory today.

Dhaka were rocked in their chase in the seventh over, when Shuvagata Hom got one to skid that came in with the arm and bowled Shadman Islam all ends up.

Shadman tried to cut but couldn’t make contact, and saw his furniture disturbed. He scored 10.

After a steady start, the first wicket stand of 18 between Dhaka’s Shykat and Shadman was broken by a good piece of fielding from the deep.

Bad calling caused the wicket to fall, and Shykat was left high and dry by his partner.

Earlier, late hitting from Ashar Zaidi pushed Comilla to 141 for 7 against Dhaka on a day when the rest of the Victorians batsmen failed miserably.

Zaidi smashed 45 from 29 balls, with two fours and three sixes, and was well supported in his cause by Shuvagata Hom.

Shuvagata faed only 11 balls and hammered 21 much needed runs after Comilla were reeling at 88 for 6 in the 17th over.

Yasir Shah and Farhad Reza took two wickets each on a good day for Dhaka bowlers.

Farhad took his second wicket when he sent back Shuvagata for a quick-fire 21. The leg-cutter from the bowler did the trick and the batsman mistimed his shot badly.

Alok Kapali’s knock ended at 10 runs when he was dismissed by Nasir Hossain with a beauty of a delivery. The batsman came down the track, got beaten and Sanga did the rest behind the wickets.

Comilla’s day went from bad to worse as wickets tumbled in regular intervals. It was the turn of Liton Das to return to the pavilion in the 14th over to prolong their procession towards doom.

Liton came down the track, went for heave, and mistimed it badly to be caught in the deep. He kept Comilla in the game with his knock, and made 31 from 34 balls before he was dismissed.

Yasir Shah gave another breakthrough for the Dynamites in the 11th over, and condemned Comilla to another batting nightmare at this year’s BPL.

Mashrafe Mortaza, captain of Comila Victorians was bowled by the Pakistani spinner for two, and his promotion up the order was a flop today.

The newest foreign recruits for Comilla Victorians failed to make an impression today, as both Ahmed Shehzad and Shoaib Malik were dismissed cheaply.

Comilla were rocked in the ninth over when Dhaka’s Yasir Shah got his countryman Shoaib Malik to put the Dynamites in control of this game.

Shoaib went down the track but failed to connect as well as he would have liked, and was safely caught by Waller. He scored eight runs.

Mustafizur Rahman celebrates the fall of wicket during BPL-2015. File Photo: STAR

Mustafizur Rahman celebrated his inclusion in ICC Team of the Year for 2015 with a wicket in his first over.

He trapped Imrul Kayes with a pacy delivery that swung in, and struck the pad at knee level. Imrul fell for seven and left his team Comilla in dire straits.

Ahmed Shehzad couldn’t really get going, and wasn’t his fluent best during the 14 minutes he spent at the crease. He got an outside edge of Farhad Reza’s ball, and was caught behind for nine runs.

Dhaka Dynamites skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss, and decided to field in their sixth match of this year’s BPL.They have won three matches and lost two.

Dhaka Dynamites

Shykat Ali, KC Sangakkara (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Nasir Hossain, Abul Hasan, RN ten Doeschate, MN Waller, Farhad Reza, Mustafizur Rahman, Shadman Islam and Yasir Shah, Mosharraf Hossain

Comilla Victorians

Shuvagata Hom, Ashar Zaidi, Alok Kapali, Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), KMDN Kulasekara, Abu Hider, Imrul Kayes, Shoaib Malik, Dolar Mahmud, Liton Das (Wicketkeeper) and Ahmed Shehzad

Most of the Comilla batsmen are in good nick in BPL-2015. File Photo: STAR