Comilla Victorians secured their place in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) final with a six-wicket victory over Rangpur Riders in the first Qualifier at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday, February 26th.
Comilla are now one win away from their third consecutive BPL title, while Rangpur will face Fortune Barishal, who defeated Chattogram Challengers by seven wickets in the Eliminator earlier today, in the second Qualifier on Wednesday.
Rangpur were lifted to 185-6 by James Neesham's unbeaten 97 off 49 balls, which included 28 runs off the final over. However, his heroics were in vain as Comilla chased down the target with nine balls to spare, thanks to fifties from Liton Das and Towhid Hridoy.
Liton scored 83 off 57 balls with nine fours and four sixes, while Hridoy made 64 off 43 balls with five fours and four sixes. They added 143 runs for the second wicket after Comilla lost Sunil Narine off the first ball of their innings.
Rangpur's debutant Fazalhaq Farooqi gave them a glimmer of hope with the wicket of Narine, but Liton and Hridoy took the game away from them with their aggressive batting. They survived some chances, as Rangpur's fielding let them down.
Abu Haider Rony broke the partnership by dismissing Hridoy, but it was too late for Rangpur. Liton fell short of his hundred when he was caught by Mahedi Hasan, while Johnson Charles was bowled by Farooqi, who finished with 2-27.
Moeen Ali (12*) and Andre Russell (2*) completed the chase without any trouble and ensured Comilla's spot in the final.
Neesham unleashed his fury on Musfik in the last over, hitting him for four fours and two sixes. Musfik ended up conceding 72 runs in his four overs, the worst figures by a bowler in BPL history.
Rangpur had a poor start after opting to bat first, as they lost Rony Talukder (13), Shamim Patwari (0) and Shakib Al Hasan (5) inside the first five overs. Rohanat Doullah Borson, who made his BPL debut, and Tanvir Islam took a wicket each, while Russell claimed the big wicket of Shakib.
Neesham was the only batsman who looked comfortable at the crease, and he found an ally in Nurul Hasan Sohan, who scored 30. They put on 53 runs for the sixth wicket, before Russell dismissed Sohan in the 19th over.
Mahedi Hasan (22) and Nicholas Pooran (14) tried to rebuild the innings, but they fell to Narine and Musfik Hasan respectively. Narine bowled a tight spell of 4-0-11-1, which kept Rangpur under pressure.
Neesham missed out on his maiden T20 century by three runs, as he failed to hit the last ball for a boundary. He hit eight fours and seven sixes in his knock, but it was not enough to prevent Rangpur's defeat.
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