Durdanto Dhaka stunned reigning champions Comilla Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League T20 opener after they registered a five-wicket win at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
Chasing a modest target of 144 runs, Mohammad Naim (52 off 40 balls) and Danushka Gunathilaka (41 off 42 balls) put up 101 runs in the opening stand to set up the winning platform for their side.
Tanvir Islam removed both batsmen in quick succession while Lasith Croospulle was removed by Mustafizur Rahman for five.
However, Irafan Sukkur then made 24 runs to take Dhaka to 147-5 in 19.3 overs and helped his side earn victory on their BPL debut.
Earlier, pacer Shoriful Islam became only the seventh bowler to claim a hat-trick in BPL and he finished with 3-27 to restrict Comilla to 143-6 in their stipulated overs after they elected to bowl first.
Imrul Kayes made the highest 66 off 56 balls while Tawhid Hridoy scored 47 runs.
The pair of Imrul and Hridoy added 107 runs for the second wicket to set up for a big finish but Dhaka bowlers came back strongly and checked the run-rate in the slog overs to restrict them to a gettable total. Taskin Ahmed took 2-30 in his four overs.
BDST: 1846 HRS, JAN 19, 2024
MSK