BPL#3 Match#14 Sylhet Superstars Vs Comilla Victorians Played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on 30 November 2015

Sylhet Super Stars 168/6 (Ravi Bopara 50, Mushfiqur Rahim 47, EMDY Munaweera 36, Abu Haidar 4/26) beat Comilla Victorians 164/5 (Ashar Zaidi 53*, Liton K Das 48, Imrul Kayes 42, Ravi Bopara 4/18) by 6 runs.

Player of the Match: Ravi Bopara (Sylhet Superstars)

Dark clouds so far in BPL 3 kept covering Superstars. Three close matches which could go either way turned away from them. Fourth defeat was a convincing one. In a do or die match Mushfiqur’s Sylhet Superstar turned the tide upon the top of the pack Comilla Victorians in an even contest. They won by 4 wickets with only two balls to spare. Victorians batting first managed 164/5 in allotted 20 overs.

Superstars got across scoring 168/6 in 19.4 overs. English recruit Ravi Bopara displayed a brilliant all-round performance first tormenting with his controlled penetrative bowling taking 4/18 and then blasting 50 in 38 deliveries. Lady luck finally smiled upon superstars.

Comilla Victorians had some issues in reorganizing their unit. Their match winning performer Marlon Samuels left to join his West Indies team now touring Australia. Their ace bowler Sunil Narine was suspended again for his bowling action. It is not easy replacing two world class performers straightaway. Liton Das cut, pulled and drove attractively silencing his critics scoring 24 balls 42. Ravi also removed Kayes soon after the left handed national opener scored a relatively patient 48. Unfortunately the rest of Victorians excepting Ashar Zaidi could not keep the momentum going in the wake Bopara and Shahid bowling. Zaidi remained unbeaten scoring 53 off 36 deliveries. It was a well composed cultured innings. Bopara had his hands in all five Victorian wickets. He himself got three and had a hand in running out Alok Kapali. Shahid bowled tightly. However, 164-run, appeared at least 10-15 less than required for winning score.

New pace sensation Abu Hider led the charge when Sylhet started their response. This young boy bowling left arm pace has already impressed many. He rode into Superstars batting heart removing Mominul and Munaweera by the 8th over. Mushfiqur promoted Bopara and him joining him led the foundation playing the match winning partnership of 87. Mushfique was cleaned up by Kulasekera but Bopara went on taking his team closer to the target. With Superstars sensing their first win of the tournament Bopara fell to Abu Hider on the second ball of the last over. He also accounted for first ball removal of Jayasuriya putting him on the road to a hat trick. However, Nurul Hossain Milon survived the hat trick ball and then struck the much needed over boundary on the fourth delivery of the last over to bring joy for the Superstars at long last. It was good to see Bangladeshi national team players Liton, Kayes and Mushfiqur batting well.

It was a contest between the top and the bottom team of this year’s tournament. But, the quality of cricket was enthralling with both teams displaying entertaining cricket. Sylhet lost their first two matches by the barest of margin of 1-run in each case. Then, they lost the third one by 6 runs. These were really heart breaking for them. This win put them on winning streak and who knows this change of luck may see them roaring back into contention. There is still lot to play for in this wide open tournament.

Comilla has a genuine problem now. Narine’s absence has made their attack a bit imbalanced. But all got very impressed with young Hider Rony. He is getting better and better after every match. We won’t be surprised if he breaks into national team soon as ideal foil of Mustafiz. Sky is his limit and fortunately he is under care of a master craftsman Mashrafe, the genuine care taker of young pacers. Victorians have to get back to winning streak as soon as possible to keep their mission going. The scenario will keep changing after every match every day for keen contest of getting into top four as Chittagong has also slipped further behind yesterday after their fourth defeat in 5 matches. The battle is really warming up.

BDST: 0940 HRS, DEC 01, 2015
SR