Dhaka Gladiators became the champions of the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 on Wednesday, outplaying Barisal Burners by eight wickets in a one-sided final.
Man of the match Imran Nazir starred for the Gladiators with a sparkling 75 and was out with only five runs from victory in a comprehensive thrashing, belying the notion that chasing in a final is always a risky proposition.
He hit six sixes and an equal number of fours and was simply unstoppable until he flicked a delivery off Alauddin Babu straight to Ahmed Shehzad at midwicket. None of the Barisal bowlers had any chance under that assault and 140 was not good enough.
Anamul Haque was unbeaten on 49 off 38 balls as his side made 144 for two in 15.4 overs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Both have been dropped and also survived close run-out calls.
The match saw quite a number of catches dropped and ground fielding was found lacking as well.
Nazir and Haque put on 110 runs from 70 deliveries for the second-wicket partnership after Nazimuddin (13) was out with a sliced drive, He tried to go inside out over cover but was caught by Babu at cover point as Suhrawardy Shuvo struck with his first ball.
Earlier, captain Brad Hodge kept his cool as wickets tumbled around him to take the Burners to 140 for 7 in 20 overs.
Hodge led from the front with an unbeaten 70 off 57 balls and single handedly gave Barisal some hope after Ahmed Shehzad, who was the star in the previous game, failed and none of the others hung in with the captain.
Burners’ highest partnership was of 43 runs from 27 deliveries between the openers Shehzad and Hodge.
Farhad Hossain and Mominul Haque, both scoring 11, were the other notable run-getters. A lot was expected of Phil Mustard but he went back for 5, trapped lbw by a Saeed Ajmal slider.
Shehzad, fresh from Tuesday’s 113 of 49 balls in the semifinal, gave his side a rollicking start for his 28 off 20 balls. Shehzad was dropped on 15 by Dhiman when the opener top-edged the big hit
Dhaka were a bit disappointed that they did not grab all the chances that came their way, but were surely the happier side going into the break.
In front of a sellout crowd, Gladiators captain Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and decided to bowl first in the star-studded finale.
Elias Sunny of Dhaka Gladiators was chosen as the Most Valuable Local Player for his 17-wicket haul in the league. Most Valuable Foreign Player award went to his teammate Azhar Mahmood.
Shakib Al Hasan of Khulna Royal Bengals was adjudged the Man of the Seriesfor his 280 runs at an average of 40.00 and 15 wickets.
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Source: bdnews24.com
Photos : e-NewsDesk
