Shakib's Barishal crush Khulna's top four hopes

Fortune Barishal picked up their seventh win of the Bangladesh Premier League on the back of solid performances from their all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Karim Janat as they beat Khulna Tigers by 37 runs knocking any hope they had of making the top four.

Batting first, Barishal posted 194 for five, courtesy of an unbeaten 33-ball 51 from Iftikhar and a 21-ball 36 from skipper Shakib. Iftikhar smashed three sixes and three fours and Shakib hit four maximums and one four to help Barishal post a challenging total.

In reply, Khulna failed to replicate their batting effort from the previous match no batters other than Shai Hope and Yasir Ali Chowdhury could make an impact as their innings came to an end at 157 for eight. Hope scored a 24-ball 37 and Yasir smashed three sixes and five fours to his 38-ball 60 but it appeared to be an uphill task for the Khulna batters, especially at the latter end of their chase.

Pacer Janat was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets for 29 runs to restrict Khulna.