BPL 3 Match 20 Review: Comilla Victorians v Chittagong Vikings, Victorians topple Vikings by five wickets to become the table toppers

Comilla Victorians registered their fifth victory of the season and reached the top of the points table after they comfortably beat Chittagong Vikings by five wickets in the second match of the day.

Victorians’ skipper Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and put the home side in, to bat. After dominating Sylhet Super Stars last night, Chittagong openers Tamim Iqbal and Tillakaratne Dilshan came to bat and continued their good show. Both combined a 50-run partnership before it was broken by Shuvagata Hom who got Iqbal caught by Ashar Zaidi. The Victorians bowlers managed to keep the run rate tight. Anamul Haque was also a failure and was out for a duck. Umar Akmal and Dilshan managed a 24 runs partnership. But, soon, Dilshan (39 runs from 42 balls) was clean bowled by Zaidi.

Akmal (49 runs from 34 balls) played a defiant knock, but he received very little support from the middle order batsmen. In the end, Chittagong managed just 136 runs after 20 overs with Akmal scoring the bulk of the runs.

In reply, Victorians had a rough start as they lost Liton Das in the second over. However, a nice 52 runs stand between Imrul Kayes and Ahmed Shehzad brought stability to the Victorians innings. Dilshan was the man who broke this impressive partnership after Kayes (35 runs from 28 balls) was induced to a drive but he nicked the ball and was caught behind by the wicketkeeper. Shehzad was also scoring runs painfully with new batsman Shoaib Malik lending him support. Ziaur Rahman soon sent Shehzad (37 from 41 balls) back to the pavilion after he rushed to complete the chase and hit the ball straight to the fielder at long-off.

The match took an interesting turn in the 16th over when Ashar Zaidi and Shuvagata Hom were dismissed in a space of just three balls. 24 runs were required from 18 balls at this stage and Vikings had come back into the game. But, there were no further hiccups for the Victorians as Malik (31 runs from 20 balls) finished off the chase in style. He hit a six for the winning runs. Alok Kapali (9 runs from 8 balls) also stood there with him till the end.

There was a very interesting event that happened in the second over of the chase. Victorians’ batsmen Imrul Kayes, Ahmed Shehzad and almost half of the Chittagong side got involved in a bizarre mix-up.

Kayes quickly set off for a single off a Taskin delivery but was sent back by Shehzad as Dilshan immediately attempted to hit the stumps. Shehzad began running and even Kayes got back for the run, but Dilshan deliberately collided with him, making him fall awkwardly. Eventually, both the batsmen reached the striker’s end and the stumps were broken at the bowlers end. The Chittagong players appealed, the third umpire reviewed and made the decision in favor of the batting team and awarded them five penalty runs.

Brief Scores:

Chittagong Vikings –136/5 in 20 overs (Umar Akmal 49; Ashar Zaidi 1/18)

Comilla Victorians – 142/5 in 20 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 37; T.Dilshan 1/11)

Man of the Match: Shoaib Malik (Comilla Victorians)