Skipper Imrul leads Chattogram to victory

On a cold winter day at Dhaka, Chattogram Challengers skipper Imrul Kayes sparked a bit of fire to spread warmth and took his team to victory against Dhaka Platoon in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

With this win, Chattogram Challengers have almost ensured their place in the playoffs with their sixth win in eight matches. 

Winning the toss, Imrul Kayes invited Dhaka Platoon to bat first. Dhaka piled up a scanty 124-9 on board, which was chased down by Chattogram pretty easily as Imrul Kayes played a well-paced innings of 53 and claimed the man of the match award.  

Batting first, Dhaka Platoon were never off their blocks. They lost their first wicket in the sixth over when Anamul Haque was run out before Mahedi Hasan was also picked up by Liam Plunkett. 

Tamim Iqbal, along with Mominul Haque, tried to work things out but runs were scarce and eventually, the left-handed opener was stumped off Nasum Ahmed for 21 off 27 deliveries. 

After Tamim's dismissal, Dhaka fell on a slope and at one point they were 93-8 and looked like they were going to be bundled out for a meagre total. But Wahab Riaz and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza somehow managed to take them to 124-9. Mominul Haque top-scored with 32 whereas Muktar Ali and Ryan Burl picked up a couple of wickets each for Chattogram. 

In reply, Chattogram were in a tight spot early in their innings as they lost both their openers, Junaid Siddique and Lendl Simmons within the fourth over. Skipper Imrul Kayes tried to put together a partnership with Chadwick Walton, but the latter returned in the tenth over. 

But skipper Imrul persisted, and his unbeaten innings of 54 runs took the Chattogram to victory with six wickets and eight balls to spare. 

Imrul Kayes was unbeaten on 54 off 53 deliveries whereas Wahab Riaz picked up a couple of wickets for Dhaka Platoon.