All-round Mehedi outshines Cumilla
Mehedi Hasan took 2/9 and scored 59 from 29 balls.
Dhaka Platoon picked up their third victory in their 5th match of the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Cumilla Warriors by five wickets at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on Monday.
Replying Warriors' 160 runs for 3 in 20 overs, Platoon made a shaky start as their opener Anamul Haque fell for a duck. But, Tamim Iqbal and Mahedi Hasan added 83 runs in the 2nd wicket stand to make a foundation for the Masrhafe Bin Mortaza-led Platoon.
Right after coming to bat, Mahedi Hasan punished Robiul Islam Robi hitting consecutive four sixes. His fiery-batting display helped Platoon to come out from the shaky start of the innings.
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Mahedi fell for 59 off 29 balls with two fours and seven sixes. He was removed by Al Ami Hossain. Right after his dismissal, Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman removed Pakistani batsman Asif Ali and Jaker Ali in two successive deliveries.
This collapse led Platoon to a tough situation, but national opener Tamim Iqbal pairing Shahid Afridi of Pakistan added 36 runs in the 5th wicket stand. But, Tamim disappointed to finish the game. He fell for 34 off 40 with four fours.
Afridi and Mominul Haque finished the remaining job for the Platoon. They knock the winning target of 161 runs for the loss of five wickets in 19.5 overs. Both Afridi and Mominul remained unbeaten on 26 and 28 respectively.
Mujeeb bagged two wickets while Robiul, Almin and Soumya Sarkar took one wicket each.
Earlier, Sri Lankan opener Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit unbeaten 96 off 65 with four fours and seven sixes to propel the Warriors to 160 for three in 20 overs.
Platoon won the toss and sent Warriors to bat first, who lost the opener, Soumya Sarkar, for 10 inside 16 runs. After Soumya's dismissal, Sabbir Rahman (0) and Dawid Malan (9) also failed to impress with the bat.
Warriors lost three wickets in 57 runs. However, in the fourth wicket stand, Rajapaksa and Yasir Ali added 103 runs. While Rajapaksa remained unbeaten for 96, Yasir scored unbeaten 30 off 27 balls with two fours.
Platoon all-rounder Mahedi Hasan did well with the ball taking two wickets conceding only nine runs in four overs. Pakistani spinner of Platoon, Shadab Khan, bagged the other wicket.
Before this game, Warriors played four matches and lost three of them. Their only victory before this game came against Rangpur Rangers on December 11 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Platoon also played four games and won two of them with losing the other two.
Platoon will take on Sylhet Thunder tomorrow at the same venue while Warriors will face off Rajshahi Royals on the same day at the same venue in their next respective games.
