BPL 3 Match 29 Review: Comilla Victorians v Sylhet Super Stars, Victorians guaranteed a top 2 finish with a dominating win

The Comilla Victorians went to the top of the table and will get 2 chances to enter the grand finale of BPL 3. A target of 150 proved way beyond the reach of the Super Stars who limped their way to 79 in a one-sided affair. The Sylhet outfit, which finished a disappointing campaign, was knocked out suffering their 7th defeat.

Their captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to field first in a crunch game for his team. A win with a big margin could have still propelled the Super Stars to a top-four finish however the result went completely the opposite way.

Litton Das was dismissed in the 2nd over of the match by Mohammad Shahid, however, a superb 2nd wicket partnership of 68 between Imrul Kayes and the eventual top scorer Ahmed Shehzad put the Victorians in a strong position. Shehzad made 42 off 31 including 5 fours and 1 six before being dismissed lbw by Rubel Hossain.

Kayes soon followed him to the dressing room after scoring 27 off 28. Alok Kapali’s 32* off 26 and Ashar Zaidi’s 31 off 29 took the total to 150/4 at the end of 20 overs. Afridi was the most impressive bowler for the Super Stars with figures of 1/20 from his 4 overs.

Junaid Siddique and Josh Cobb took the score to 16 from 3.2 overs before Shuvagata Hom gave his team a breakthrough with the wicket of Siddique. Cobb’s 21 off 18, the top score of the innings, was ended by Naeem Islam. Wickets kept tumbling as none of the batsmen looked intent on spending some time on the pitch before launching.

Ravi Bopara was run out while Hom took wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim and Sohail Tanvir in an impressive spell of bowling. He finished with figures of 3/8 from 3 overs. When Afridi was cleaned up by Zaidi, the result became a mere formality. He and Russell took two wickets each as the Super Stars folded for a paltry 79.

Brief scores:

Comilla Victorians – 150/4 from 20 overs (A Shehzad 42; S Afridi 1/20)

Sylhet Super Stars – 79/10 from 13.5 overs (J Cobb 21; S Hom 3/8)

Man of the Match: Ahmed Shehzad (Comilla Victorians)