Barishal Reaches BPL Final

Fortune Barishal reached final of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League as they beat Rangpur Riders by six wickets during the second qualifier at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Wednesday.

Fortune Barishal joined Comilla Victorians in the final of lone franchise-based T20 tournament.

Chasing a modest target of 150 runs, Barishal’s experienced batsman Mushfiqur Rahim struck an unbeaten 47 off 38 balls while Kyle Mayers made a quick-fire 28 as they reached 152-4 in 18.3 overs to knock Rangpur out of the tournament.

Earlier, Rangpur’s lower middle-order batsman Shamim Hossain showcased a blistering batting display as he smashed five fours and as many sixes for his unbeaten 24-ball 59 to guide his side to post 149-7 in 20 overs after they were sent into bat first.

Rangpur were in deep trouble when Shamim came to bat in the 15th over and they were soon reduced to 77-7.

Shamim, who hit Barishal pacer Obed McCoy for 26 runs which included three sixes and two fours in the 19th over, also received decent batting support from Abu Hider Rony (12 not out) as the pair added 72 runs off just 31 balls to help Rangpur post a respectable total on board.

Barishal’s James Fuller was the most successful bowler claiming 3-25 while Mohammad Saifuddin took two wickets in Rangpur innings.

Hider then gave Rangpur early successes with the ball as he removed Mehidy Hasan Miraz (eight) and Tamim Iqbal in between three balls to reduce Barishal to 22-2.

Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim then shared a 47-run stand for the third wicket to repair the early damage before the former was stumped off Mohammad Nabi’s bowling on 22.

However, Mushfiqur and Kyle Mayers then shared a partnership of 50 runs for the fourth wicket to take Barishal close to victory before the latter was dismissed by Fazalhaq Farooqi on 28 off 13 balls.

Mushfiqur and David Miller (22 not out) then finished the game for Barishal as they reached the target with nine balls to spare and confirmed their second BPL final berth.