Chattogram knock Dhaka out with easy win

Even their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza playing with 14 stitches in his left hand could not inspire Dhaka Platoon as they produced a poor performance in the eliminator of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 2019-20 to get knocked out of the tournament by Chattogram Challengers as Dhaka suffered a seven-wicket defeat.

In a must-win match, Dhaka were on the backfoot straight away as they lost three wickets in the powerplay and went on to lose four more within the 11th over. But Shadab Khan put up a resistance and then fired up a thunderstorm to take Dhaka to 144-8 as he was unbeaten on 64 off 41 deliveries. 

Chasing that, Chattogram had nearly no trouble as they chased down the total with 14 balls and seven wickets in hand.

Chattogramm, in their next match, will face the loser of the first qualifier which will see Rajshahi Royals and Khulna Tigers fight it out. 

Winning the toss, Chattogram skipper Mahmudullah Riyad opted to field first. Dhaka brought in Luis Reece for Faheem Ashraf whereas Chattogram brought in Mehedi Hasan Rana and Asela Gunaratne to replace Junaid Siddique and Liam Plunkett. 

Dhaka lost a flurry of wickets in the beginning as they were seven-down within the 11th over but a brilliant knock from Shadab Khan of 64 ensured that they had a fighting total on board in 144-8. 

Chasing 145, Chattogram were slow to start as they managed to take only two runs from the first two overs but soon they caught up with the asking rate as they notched up 43 in the powerplay with losing Ziaur Rahman's wicket. Zia was more aggressive than Gayle before being stumped off Mahedi Hasan for 25 off 12 deliveries. 

Imrul Kayes continued on his brilliant form this season as he put up a 49-run stand with before getting dismissed to Shadab Khan for 32. Mashrafe then produced a momentous incident as he took a one-handed catch to send back Gayle for an uncharacteristic 38 off 49 deliveries. Gayle tried to sweep Shadab but only managed to loop the ball into the air and Mashrafe, fielding at short fine leg, took the catch with his right hand as he was carrying 14 stitches in his left. 

Anamul Haque missed out on a glorious opportunity to get rid of Chadwick Walton and bring Dhaka back into the game, but the wicketkeeper failed to gather the ball and hit the stumps to dismiss the batsman. 

But Mahmudullah and Chadwick Walton ensured that Chattogram reached the target with 14 balls to go as Mahmudullah stayed unbeaten on 34 off 14 deliveries.

Earlier, batting first, Dhaka were in chaos from the very beginning as they lost three wickets within the powerplay. Tamim Iqbal's stumps were rattled by Rubel Hossain before Nasum Ahmed sent Anamul Haque out for a nought. Skipper Mahmudullah struck in the last over of the powerplay to send Luis Reece back for a duck as Dhaka finished the powerplay with only 28 runs. 

Dhaka's woes continued as their procession of wickets continued. Rayad Emrit struck twice in the ninth over to send back Mahedi Hasan and Jaker Ali Anik before Emrit struck again in his next over to send back Mominul Haque, who was holding up one end for Dhaka. Asif Ali was the next to go as Nasum took a return catch to send back the Pakistani batsman. 

Thisara Perera and Shadab Khan showed Dhaka some hope of reaching a fighting total as they put up a 44-run stand as Thisara started to blast the bowlers. But the stand was broken as Rubel struck in the 18th over to send Thisara back for 25 off 13 deliveries to bring in the injured Mashrafe Mortaza to bat, who had to have 14 stitches in his left hand two days earlier. 

But Shadab Khan blasted Rana and Ziaur Rahman in the last two overs as he picked up his fifty off 36 deliveries and took 39 off the last two overs to take Dhaka to 144-8. 

Shadab was unbeaten on 64 off 41 deliveries with Mashrafe playing only two deliveries in the 14-ball stand. 

Emrit picked up three wickets for Chattogram with Nasum and Rubel picking up one each whereas Mahmudullah picked up the other.