In the match between Rangpur Riders and Fortune Barisal, the personal duel of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal was at the center of discussion over the team fight. Just as the Shakib-Tamim tussle is going on in everything at 22 yards, the same situation prevails between the fans and supporters off the field. The excitement of the field in the fight to reach the final on Wednesday spread to the gallery. There was also a scuffle between Shakib fans and Tamim fans in the Shaheed Jewel stand gallery. The entire match was full of excitement. Tamim’s Barisal had the last laugh in this tough and suffocating match.
Tamim won the toss and invited Rangpur to bat at Mirpur Sher Bangla Stadium. But Rangpur lost badly in front of Barisal’s controlled bowling. Shamim Hossain Patwari’s impeccable innings of 59 runs helped the one-time champions somehow capitalize on 149 runs. In response, Barisal won by 6 wickets in 9 balls due to Mushfiqur Rahim’s responsible innings.
With this, Barisal franchise won the ticket for the final for the fourth time. This team has never tasted the title. Now waiting to see whether they can win the BPL title by defeating Comilla Victorians in the final on March 1.
This final is going to be a repeat of 2015 and 2022, when Barisal lost their dream to Comilla Victorians. On March 1, the two teams will meet for the third time in the final.
Barisal played in the final in the first season. That time they lost to Dhaka Gladiators.
The target of 150 runs was not difficult at all for Barisal. But when the battle is personal level beyond the match, the cricketers of both teams had to suffer from nervous pressure. Mehdi Hasan Miraj was brought in to open the team by changing the plan. Tamim was on non strike. Not only would he have to defeat Shakib, but also Fazal Haque Farooqui to reach the final. Tamim, however, did not stay at the crease for long, Farooqui did not have to play too much. But no matter how many balls he played, there was no relief.
Tamim played an 8-ball 10-run innings before departing with a catch at cover off Abu Haider Roni. In the overs following his dismissal, the tension surrounding Wide spread. Ronnie’s first ball in the fourth over went off the leg stump. The umpire gave out in view of the strong appeal of the fielders of Rangpur. But Mirage survived the review. Later, when the umpire declared the ball wide, Shakib-Sohan surrounded the umpires. It caused excitement in the field for some time. The excitement of the audience in the field was the whole time. Chants of ‘Bhua Bhua’ rang out from the stadium gallery throughout. This ‘Bhua Bhua’ slogan surrounding Shakib is also understood. However, before entering the field, it was these spectators who invited Shakib-Tamim to forget all animosity and unite.
Barisal took control of the match by quickly sending off Miraj after Tamim. However, Mushfiqur and Soumya put up resistance with a partnership of 47 runs off 37 balls. Soumya batted with discomfort in the beginning, but as time progressed, Soumya started to play with open arms. But the experienced batsman was stumped while playing Mohammad Nabi’s ball, making 22. Then Mushfiq played a stormy innings of 50 runs off 27 balls with Kyle Myers. This pair basically lost the match from Rangpur. Myers got out after playing a cameo innings of 28 runs off 15 balls.
Then Mushfiqur started playing slowly with David Miller. 9 balls ago Barisal reached the port of victory with their unbroken pair of 33 runs off 24 balls. Mushfiqur batted with full responsibility from start to finish. Barisal’s wicketkeeper Batter was man of the match by playing an unbeaten innings of 47 runs off 38 balls with 6 fours and 1 six. He also had four catches behind the wicket.
Rangpur bowlers could not continue the pressure after creating pressure in the beginning. Shakib, the important bowler of the team, is far from fulfilling the quota, he has bowled only one and a half overs. Faruqi bowled in the keep but could not make much impact. He took one wicket for 16 runs. Nabi also took a wicket. Rony, the best bowler of the team, took two wickets for 20 runs.
After losing the toss, Rangpur got off to a bad start. In the second over of Saifuddin’s innings, Sheikh Mehdi Hasan (2) and Shakib (1) returned to Sajghar with a gap of 6 balls. That’s the beginning of wrapping. Rangpur kept losing wickets at regular intervals in the face of Barisal’s great bowling. The team’s top order to middle order failed completely. Only New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham tried to resist. He fell victim to James Fuller for 28 off 4 fours off 22 balls. When Nicholas Puran (3) and Neesham got out in a gap of two balls, Rangpur was completely under pressure.
u09b6u09beu09aeu09c0u09aeu09c7u09b0 u09acu09cdu09afu09beu099fu09c7 u09aeu09beu09a8 u09acu09beu0981u099au09c7 u09b0u0 982u09aau09c1 u09b0u09c7u09b0“}”> Another foreign all-rounder Nabi also failed to contribute. He scored 12 runs off 15 balls. After losing 7 wickets for 77 runs, Rangpur fell under the threat of being all out under 100. But the scenario changed from there. Despite keeping Rangpur under pressure throughout the innings, Barisal’s bowlers lost the ball in the last 5 overs. Rangpur’s collection in 15 overs was 83 for 7 wickets! In the remaining 5 overs, Shamim’s bat added 66 more runs to Barisal’s scoreboard.
Shamim made an unbroken 72-run partnership of 31 balls with Roni in the eighth wicket. The one-time champion Rangpur made a challenging score of 149 runs by relying on this pair. Roni accompanied Shamim only from one side. At the other end, this batsman of the Youth World Cup winning team took the team’s score to 150 with a flurry of four-sixes.
Shamim remained unbeaten on 59 runs after reaching half-century in 20 balls. Shakib completed the fastest half-century in 20 balls in the current season. This time jointly Shamim made this feat. Shamim scored 26 runs with 6 sixes and 2 fours off Obed McCoy in the 19th over. Rangpur enriched the scoreboard in that over. Shamim completed his innings with 5 fours and 5 sixes off 24 balls. On the other hand Rony remained unbeaten playing an innings of 12 runs off 9 balls.
Barisal’s best bowler James Fuller with 3 wickets for 25 runs. Besides, Saifuddin took two wickets for 27 runs. Myers and Mirage took one wicket each.
Another foreign all-rounder Nabi also failed to contribute. He scored 12 runs off 15 balls. After losing 7 wickets for 77 runs, Rangpur fell under the threat of being all out under 100. But the scenario changed from there. Despite keeping Rangpur under pressure throughout the innings, Barisal’s bowlers lost the ball in the last 5 overs. Rangpur’s collection in 15 overs was 83 for 7 wickets! In the remaining 5 overs, Shamim’s bat added 66 more runs to Barisal’s scoreboard.
