Having played the final four times and never lost, Comilla now has to be content with being the runner-up; And Barisal got the relief of passing the Padma with the trophy for the first time.
Barisal reached the final in the first season of BPL. The name of the team then was Barisal Burners. Barisal Bulls franchise could not win the championship even in the third season. Barisal didn’t have a team in the last few games. Even though Barisal returned to the only T20 league in the country with the name of Fortune, their luck did not return. They also finished as runners-up in the 2022 season of BPL.
This time, under the leadership of Tamim Iqbal, Barisal entered the final stage, the opponent was the four-time champion Comilla Victorians. This time, Barisal’s heart was not broken, Tamim’s hand crushed the strong Comilla and Barisal won the BPL title for the first time. Tamim Iqbal also got the taste of winning the title for the first time as the captain of the team.
After losing the toss and batting first, Comilla Victorians set Barisal a target of 155 runs. In response, Barisal’s franchise defeated Comilla by 6 wickets with 6 balls remaining. Having played the final four times and never lost, Comilla now has to be content with being the runner-up; And Barisal got the relief of passing the Padma with the trophy for the first time.
Fortune Barisal got off to a flying start in chasing 155 runs given by Comilla Victorians. The pair of Tamim-Miraj lasted till the eighth over. The pair broke with Tamim’s departure for the team’s 76 runs. Barisal’s captain returned to Sajghar after playing an explosive innings of 39 runs off 26 balls. Mirage also returned to add 6 runs to the scorecard. Moeen Ali scored 29 runs off 26 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Kyle Myers led the team after the departure of the two openers. Keeping Mushfiqur at one end, Myers continued to hit a basket of four sixes. Both made a pair of 59 runs. The pair broke with Myers’ departure for the team’s 141 runs. Myers scored 46 runs off 30 balls courtesy of 5 boundaries and 2 sixes. Mushfiq returned to Sajghar as soon as 3 runs were added to the scorecard. He scored 13 runs off 18 balls. But Barisal did not have much problem to win. Mahmudullah and David Miller did the rest easily. Mahmudullah was unbeaten with 7 runs. And Miller left the field after winning the team by scoring 8 runs.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Barisal captain Tamim Iqbal invited Comilla to bat. Sunil Narine and Liton Das opened the innings for Comilla after losing the toss. Narine got out for just 5 runs in the first over. In the ongoing BPL, Tawheed Hriday, who was at the peak of his form, could not last long. He returned to Sajghar with a personal 15 runs. After that, captain Liton Das also returned in the sixth over. He scored 16 runs off 12 balls before returning.
Johnson Charles and Mahidul Islam drew Comilla under pressure after losing 3 wickets. However, the duo did not score more than 23 runs. Charles returned to Sajghar after being caught by Tamim off McCoy’s ball for the team’s 65 runs. This Caribbean batter scored 15 runs off 17 balls before returning. Moeen Ali returned after being run out for the team’s 79 runs. Comilla went on the backfoot.
Zaker Ali took the lead with Anik in the sixth wicket. Both made a pair of 36 runs. Andre Russell came to the crease as he departed for 38 off 35 balls, hitting 2 four-sixes. In the end, the Caribbean stormed. In the 19th over, James hit three sixes off Fuller’s over. Played an unbeaten innings of 27 runs off 14 balls. Besides, Zaker Ali remains unbeaten on 20 runs. Comilla’s collection stood at 154 after losing 6 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs.
Fuller of Barisal took 2 wickets for 43 runs in 4 overs. Apart from this, Mohammad Saifuddin, Kyle Myers and Obed McCoy took one wicket each.
Fortune Barisal: Tamim Iqbal (captain), Soumya Sarkar, David Miller, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Kyle Myers, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taijul Islam, Obed McCoy and James Fuller.
Comilla Victorians: Liton Das (Captain), Mahidul Islam Drawing, Tawhid Hriday, Johnson Charles, Zaker Ali (Wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rohantdullah Barshan, Mustafizur Rahman and Tanveer Islam.
