Dhaka Dynamites 137 for 7 (Shakib 47*, Maruf 33, Rubel 2-32) beat Rangpur Riders 94 for 7 (Bopara 28*, Shakib 2-13, Hider 2-23) by 43 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Dhaka Dynamites assured themselves an extra shot at making the BPL final, after their 43-run win over Rangpur Riders gave them a second-place finish. Dhaka will face table-toppers Comilla Victorians in the first Qualifier on December 8.
Shakib Al Hasan's experience came to the fore as he first lifted Dhaka from the depths of 48 for 5 with 47 off 33 balls as Dhaka finished on 137 for 7. He then took two wickets that helped stifle Rangpur to 94 for 7 in 20 overs. Rangpur finished fourth, and will take on Khulna Titans in the Eliminator.
Dhaka take a free-fall
Rubel Hossain bounced out Sunil Narine with his first ball when Narine fended meekly into the hands of short fine leg. Joe Denly survived a stumping chance on 2, but couldn't capitalise as Samuel Badree, playing his first match, got Denly to hole out to long-on. Another short ball, this time from Ebadot Hossain, accounted for Jahurul Islam, who top-edged to first slip.
Mosaddek Hossain and Evin Lewis exited in successive overs as Dhaka were brought down to 49 for 5 at the halfway stage.
Shakib to the rescue
Mehedi Maruf and Shakib began Dhaka's recovery with a 55-run stand for the sixth wicket. Mehedi made 33 off 23 balls with three fours and a six. It complemented Shakib's 33-ball 47 that had two fours and as many sixes as Dhaka blitzed 76 runs in the last seven overs. Rubel and Ebadot took two wickets each while Badree, Nahidul and Razzak got one each.
Rangpur's experiment crashes
Rangpur made as many as seven changes to their XI. And they struggled to piece it all together. Jonathan Charles stood at the non-striker's end and watched as Adam Lyth, Brendon McCullum and Shahriar Nafees fell cheaply. Charles was trapped lbw by Abu Hider. He had been Rangpur's only set batsman then, having made 26 off 30 balls. To his and Rangpur's further misfortune, replays later showed that Charles had got an inside edge. Mohammad Mithun fell two balls later, pinged on the pad by Shakib in front of middle. At the halfway stage, there was little to separate the two sides; Dhaka had made 49 for 5 and Rangpur managed 42 for 5.
Ravi Bopara top-scored with 28, but took 30 balls as Dhaka refused to ease their stranglehold on their opponents. Shakib and Hider took two wickets each, while Mosaddek, Narine and Amir took one each.