Joy, Yasir, Tamim lift Khulna as they overcome the Chattogram challenge

Khulna Tigers notched up their second win to move up to fourth in the points table of the ongoing BPL as they beat hosts Chattogram by seven wickets to hand their fourth loss in six matches. 

Chattogram had their moments in the match but lacked urgency in the middle overs with the bat and failed to pick up wickets at regular intervals. Mahmudul Hasan Joy racked up his first fifty this season and he was well-supported by Tamim Iqbal. Yasir Ali put the finishing touches with a strong 36*. 

Batting first, Chattogram Challengers posted 157 for nine in their 20 overs. Pakistan's Usman Khan continued to be their key batter at the top of the order. Although the right-hander missed out in the previous innings, he got Chattogram off to a decent start again in this match. 

Despite losing his partner Max O'Dowd early, Usman struck seven fours and a maximum in his 31-ball-45 before getting dismissed in the 10th over.

Afif Hossain (35 off 31) and Afghanistan's Darwish Rasooli (25 off 26) slowed down through the middle overs before all-rounder Farhad Reza (21* off 9) smashed some lusty blows to provide the much-needed impetus.

Fast-bowling duo of Wahab Riaz (4/36) and Mohammad Saifuddin (2/40) got wickets but went for a few. Pakistan's Amad Butt picked up the prized scalp of his compatriot Usman and was economical as well.

Defending 157, Chattogram started off their bowling innings in the best way possible as captain Shuvagata Hom got rid of the attacking opener Munim Shahriar. Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who played a timely and patient 38 in the previous match, had yet another superb outing with the bat. 

Joy was excellent with timing and gap-finding and his lofted shots in particular were very productive. Joy added 104 off just 12.4 overs with his senior partner Tamim Iqbal (44 off 37) to keep the chase on track.

After Tamim's fall, things started to get a bit difficult and the difficulty was aggravated by Joy's departure in the 15th over on 59.

Onus was then on skipper Yasir Ali and Azam Khan to crack the nine-per-over chase in the final phase. 

There was a good little period for the bowling side with six consecutive dot balls and the required run rate went over 11 runs per over. Yasir, under the pump after a string of low scores, stepped up when his team needed a strong finish. 

The right-handed batter hit four sixes and two boundaries in his match-winning 36* off 17 to finish the chase with four balls to spare. Yasir smashed a six off Nihaduzzaman to finish the game in style.

Chattogram captain Hom admitted that they didn't have enough runs on the board and the death bowling duo of Farhad Reza and Mehedi Hasan Rana wasn't quite up to the mark.

"Not a good enough score, we were 15-20 runs short. We had chances, our bowlers did well but death overs weren't good enough. We need to improve ourselves and do better next time," he said.

Joy won the player-of-the-match award and the performance came after an extended lean patch. He said the attempt of keeping things simple worked in his favour. 

"I needed some runs since I didn't play well last 5-6 months. The wicket was pretty good, I was trying to keep it simple. I knew if I get set, I can score big. Tamim bhai said to stay on the wicket and punish the bad balls," Joy told the broadcasters.