Comilla Victorians 148 for 1 (Imrul 81*, Litton 53) beat Chattogram Challengers 138 for 8 (Jacks 57, Afif 27, Mustafizur 5-27) by nine wickets
How the match played out
Comilla Victorians hammered Chattogram Challengers by nine wickets to bound to the top of the BPL points table. They first restricted Chattogram to 138 for 8 in a rain-hit game reduced to 18 overs a side, and then knocked off the DLS-adjusted target of 144 quite easily.
Mustafizur Rahman claimed his third five-wicket haul in T20 cricket, hurting Chattogram in the post-rain period. They were 107 for 2 in the 13th over when the rain came. After an hour-long break, they could manage only 31 runs in their remaining 5.1 overs, losing six wickets along the way.
In reply, Imrul Kayes and Litton Das added 138 runs for Comilla's opening stand, crushing any lingering Chattogram hopes. In what turned out to be the final over of the game, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury removed the latter for 53. Imrul however struck the next two balls for four and six through point to settle matters.
Earlier, Will Jacks' third half-century of the tournament gave Chattogram the perfect start. But it was all downhill from there for his team.
Big hit
All of Mustafizur's five wickets came after the rain break. Shamim Hossain and Jacks were pocketed in the 14th over, before he had Naeem Islam caught and bowled with a brilliant reflex catch, and Benny Howell chipping one to mid-off. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was Mustafizur's fifth wicket, in the final over, when he toed-ended a good-length ball.
For his part, Jacks struck his signature swept-six over long-leg, and two more through wide long-on. He added 62 runs for the second wicket with Afif Hossain, and 47 for the third wicket with Shamim Hossain in Chattogram's best period in the game.
In the chase, Imrul and Litton didn't hold back. Imrul cracked three sixes over the off side between point and mid-off, carved one over third man and slog swept Mehidy Hasan Miraz over midwicket for another. He also struck six fours in his unbeaten 62-ball 81. Litton played something of a supporting role. Still, he struck two sixes down the ground, and another in the region of midwicket, where the ball burst through Jacks' hands.
Big miss
Chattogram looked haphazard in their approach for the third game in a row. Once again, left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed was ineffective with the new ball, while Miraz's offspin was taken apart for 31 runs in three overs. Left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam, who shared the new ball with Nasum and was slightly winded by a bad fall, also went wicketless.
Comilla used spin for 13 out of their 18 overs. Mustafizur bowled his full quota of four, while Sumon Khan got the other over of pace in. The spinners didn't really have a major impact though, with big-draws Sunil Narine and Moeen Ali going wicketless in their first BPL appearances this season.
