BPL 2015 Match 16 Barisal Bulls Vs Dhaka Dynamites Played at ZACS Chittagong on 1 December 2015
Barisal Bulls 159/1 (E Lewis 101*, Rony Talukdar 38) beat Dhaka Dynamides 158/5 ( KC Sangakkara 60, RN ten Doeschate 45* , S Prassana 2/23 , KK Cooper 2/30) by 9 Wickets
Player of the Match: E Lewis (Barisal Bulls)
Once again Dynamites was not activated as Bulls defused them displaying attracting brand of aggressive cricket .Bulls progressed to the top of the table almost assuring their berth to the second round of BPL 2015.
Dynamites could together an apparently defendable score of 158/5 batting first but contrary to observations of few Bulls cruised over losing only one wicket riding on a brilliant century of Evin Lewis.
Let us hear from the horse’s mouth what happened in the 15 th match of BPL2015.
Kumar Sangakkara: “158 was pretty good. We should've got a few more runs; a few wickets pegged us back. When someone bats like Lewis, there is little bowlers can do. It's about playing well and executing well. We will pick ourselves and come back tomorrow.”
Mahmudullah: “We know how Lewis bats. He hits the ball for a few sixes in the nets. Rony batted well with him. Bowlers did well and put the pressure on their batsmen. Everything went well for us. I had a chat with Rony on what was expected of him”
Evin Lewis, Man of the match: “I went out there and backed myself. I think the pitch was decent. Our slower bowlers did well. Chris Gayle is my idol. It was ideal that Rony took the pressure off me and we had a good partnership.”
The two matches played yesterday at ZACS panned out in same vein .Team batting first huffed and puffed while batting and team second cruised home chasing smartly. While the score of 111/8 of Chittagong Vikings was not defendable Dynamite was smarted out by well-paced aggressive batting of Lewis.
Bulls are now heading the points table.Their master blaster Chris Gayle is expected soon. If he appears in his own form Bulls may be the team to beat. Bulls along with Rangpur Riders are now more or less assured of progressing to knock out stage.
Barisal Bulls chose to field after Mahmudullah won the toss. Judging the nature of the wicket Dynamite skipper Sangrakkara came to open the innings along with Shykat Ali.
The young budding opener Shadman was not played to accommodate four foreign recruits in the team. The plan did not work out as Dynamites batsmen failed to rotate strikes getting bogged down to accurate bowling and tight fielding by the bulls. It was not Sami and Al Amin who caused headaches.
Rather Bulls captain Mahmudullah took away the pace and he himself, Prasanna and Taizul appeared more difficult to score off. Captain Sangrakkara played a defiant quality innings of 60 in 47 deliveries punctuated with signature strokes. Thirimanne, Nasir Hossain and Abul Hasan failed to create any momentum.
Only a late flurry of strokes from RN ten Doeschate striking 3 sixes and a four in 32 balls unbeaten 45 could give some respectability to Dynamites ultimate score of 158/5. At half way stage many including Dynamites head coach Mickey Arthur thought the score as defendable.
But the jam-packed Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury most of whom came to cheer the home team in earlier match were treated to an wonderful exhibition of power hitting by less known Caribbean Youngster Ewin Lewis.
His batting had Calyspo melody, which characterized the well West Indians of yesteryears. His unbeaten 101 the first century of BPL 2015 had 6 strikes over and across and 7 along the carpet. He played only 65 deliveries in reaching the landmark on a wicket where even the maestro Sangakkara had to grind and graft a bit.
Bangladeshi rising star Rony Talukdar was his ideal foil as the opening partnership won the match for them with 127. Rony contributed 38 of 34 deliveries obviously playing as second fiddle. Tean of Southern Bangladesh cruised home with 8 balls to spare.
Points Table: 
It now appears from above that Bulls and Riders are almost there. Victorains, Dynamites and Superstars will have to play for the remaining two spots. Superstars have to win almost all of their remaining group matches.
Dynamites and Victorians are relatively better placed. We do not think Vikings have any realistic opportunity left. But strange things do happen in cricket and may happen in BPL too. Let us keep us our fingers crossed and enjoy.
Wickets do have demons. Quality players can dig in and play attractive strokes if they can only choose the right deliveries to attack. There are players in each team who can play like Lewis if they do not panic.
All teams have quality bowling resources and bowlers usually do not give free bees to often in T20 format. Batsmen still have to have a feel of the wickets. It is not all Vini Vici Vidi even in T20 cricket.
BDST: 0847 HRS, DEC-02, 2015
RS
