Comilla Victorians 186 for 4 (Litton 83, Hridoy 64, Farooqi 2-27) beat Rangpur Riders 185 for six (Neesham 97*, Nurul 30, Russell 2-37) by six wickets
Neesham, Litton and Hridoy’s innings appeared to be a simply reward for a 25,000-plus crowd on the Shere Bangla Nationwide Stadium, which had witnessed a comparatively one-sided Eliminator match earlier within the day.
Hridoy struck 64 off 43 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes, whereas Litton smacked 9 fours and 4 sixes in an innings of 83 from 57 deliveries. The pair added 143 for the second wicket after Sunil Narine’s first-ball dismissal.
Hridoy and Litton received Comilla’s steep chase going nearly instantly, the previous hammering Hasan Mahmud for 22 runs within the fifth over. Litton then went after Neesham, hitting him for a 4 and a six, to finish the powerplay. Hridoy hit two extra sixes, whereas Litton additionally received a six within the subsequent 4 overs.
Hridoy struck the ball strongly by way of the leg facet, whereas Litton saved up the tempo with three fours off Neesham within the thirteenth over. The partnership ended within the fifteenth over when Shakib Al Hasan held on to Hridoy’s swipe down the bottom.
However Litton continued to maintain the chase on monitor with extra boundaries earlier than falling with 13 runs required to win, which had been knocked off within the subsequent 4 authorized deliveries.
Earlier, Rangpur’s innings had modified its course when Neesham walked in to bat within the fifth over. Rangpur had already misplaced Shakib, Shamim Hossain and Rony Talukdar earlier than Neesham and Mahedi Hasan added 39 for the fourth wicket.
Mahedi fell within the ninth over, earlier than Neesham added one other helpful 38 with Nicholas Pooran for the fifth wicket. Pooran, who arrived in Dhaka solely on Monday morning, made 14 off 9 balls, earlier than Neesham was joined by captain Nurul Hasan to stabilise Rangpur’s innings.
That’s when Neesham opened up, as he and Nurul added 53, with Neesham climbing into the Comilla bowlers. He struck most of his seven sixes over midwicket, at instances shuffling to the off facet to fetch the ball and hit the bowlers on the leg facet.
Neesham struck three sixes and two fours within the final over of Rangpur’s innings as Comilla’s teen Musfik Hasan conceded 27 – the opposite run was from a bye – with the whole of 28 being essentially the most in an over on this season’s BPL. Musfik’s 4 overs price 72, and turned out to be the most costly spell in BPL historical past.
But it surely did not price Comilla, though Rangpur now have a second shot on the final as they tackle Fortune Barishal in Qualifier 2 in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
