Comilla continue victory march at BPL, down Chattogram in Mirpur

Comilla Victorians continued their victory march at the BPL as they won their seventh straight game in the tournament by beating Chattogram Challengers by six wickets. Mrittunjoy Chowdhury was excellent with the new ball but it was Mohammad Rizwan again who played a timely innings to win the match for Comilla.

In a 157-run chase, Chattogram bowlers restricted Comilla to 57 for three in the ninth over but Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase really well to ensure they did not make it too difficult. He added a quick 76 off 47 with Mosaddek Hossain before getting out on 61 off 47.

Mosaddek (37* off 27) then finished the game along with Jaker Ali with one over remaining. 

Earlier, fifties from Usman Khan and Afif Hossain took Chattogram Challengers to 156 for seven. Usman returned to form after a couple of low scores. The Karachi-born right-hander, awaiting eligibility to play for the UAE, hit four fours and three maximums in his 41-ball-52. 

Usman and Afif led Chattogram's recovery with a partnership of 88 off 10.4 overs. After Usman's fall in the 14th over, Afif helped them have a few good overs to take the total past 150. Afif scored 66 off 49 and his innings was studded with six fours and two boundaries.

Darwish Rasooli gave a strong finish as he smashed two sixes and a four in an entertaining 9-ball-21. 

Apart from Mustafizur Rahman (0/44), almost everyone was economical. Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam (2/27) and fast bowler Hasan Ali (2/25) were the pick of the bowlers for Comilla. Pakistan mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed made his BPL debut in this match and was economical, giving away just 22 runs off four overs. 

It was Chattogram's sixth consecutive defeat at the BPL and captain Shuvagata Hom said they are trying their best to come up with something good.

"We had a decent total but unfortunately, we couldn't defend it. Usman and Afif played well in the middle overs but we were a few runs short I think. Everyone is trying their best but we are not able to break the losing streak," he said.

Rizwan said assessing the conditions and playing according to that was the key for him. "I played well, we did make some mistakes but it is good we won. You always assess the conditions when you chase. I followed the instructions of the coach and assessed the conditions. When you give them wickets, it gets difficult. I had a good partnership with Mosaddek and that got us through," he said.

Comilla captain Imrul Kayes credited Rizwan, Tanvir and Hasan for their excellent performances and said his team would try to secure top two. 

"They were in good position after the halfway stage in the first innings. We lost a couple of early wickets but Rizwan has played very well, credit to him. Tanvir has been doing very well for us, last year too. Hasan Ali has also bowled very well. At this moment, we have qualified, but we want to finish at 1 or 2 and we will try our best in the coming games," Kayes stated.