Dhaka Dominators prevail in yet another Mirpur low-scorer at BPL
Apart from a stutter early in the innings (Ahmed Shehzad getting retired hurt), Dhaka didn’t have much of a problem chasing a modest 114. A couple of small contributions at the top-order - Dilshan Munaweera's 22 and Soumya Sarkar's 16 - and later an unbroken stand between captain Nasir and Usman Ghani almost sealed the deal for the home side.
In this first 20-over game in more than a year, fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain was too good to handle as he made the life of Khulna Tigers batters on a chilly afternoon at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. His four for 28 set up a six-wicket win for Dhaka Dominators in their first game in the ongoing BPL.
It was the second low-scoring day game of the tournament and a top five consisting of Tamim Iqbal, Sharjeel Khan, Munim Shahriar, Azam Khan and Yasir Ali could not put up a good show. Yasir was the top-scorer with a run-a-ball 24 but Dhaka skipper Nasir Hossain got rid of him. It was Nasir's second wicket, having got rid of Pakistan's Sharjeel earlier.
Arafat Sunny got a couple of crucial scalps too as he saw the back of the attacking duo of Tamim and Azam.
Taskin Ahmed bowled superbly well without a wicket. His fast-bowling partner Al-Amin had a ball in the slog overs as three of his four wickets came in that phase.
Azam Khan (18 off 12) started off with two boundaries but fell to the left-arm spin of Sunny. Wahab Riaz hit a four and a six in his 3-ball-10 before Al-Amin got the better of him.
Apart from a stutter early in the innings (Ahmed Shehzad getting retired hurt), Dhaka didn't have much of a problem chasing a modest 114. A couple of small contributions at the top-order - Dilshan Munaweera's 22 and Soumya Sarkar's 16 - and later an unbroken stand between captain Nasir and Usman Ghani almost sealed the deal for the home side.
Mohammad Saifuddin and the Netherlands' Paul van Meekeren bowled exceedingly well but there weren't enough runs to play with.
Nasir (36* off 36) remained till the end and Dhaka got the win with five balls to spare.