BPL 2015 Final Match: Comilla Victorians Vs Barisal Bulls Played at SBNCS on 15 December 2015.
Comilla Victorians 157/7 (Imrul Kayes 53, Alok Kapali 39, Ahmed Shehzad 30, Mahamudullah Riad 2/23, KK Kooper 2/31) beat Barisal Bulls 156/4 ( Mahamudullah 48, Shariar Nafees 44,S Prasanna 33,) by 3 wicket on the last ball of the tournament.
Player of Match: Alok Kapali (Comilla Victorians)
Player of Tournament: Ashar Zaidi (Comilla Victorians)
Best Bangladeshi Player: Abu Haidar Rony (Comilla Victorians)
Final of BPL2015 final ball was decided in the final ball. Two evenly matched teams Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls fought tooth and nail presenting a fascinating contest of bat and ball. The pendulum swung end to end in a nail biting hair rising contest.
Finally, Victorians earned victory peeping Bulls to the post. A quality player Alok Kapali who struggled a lot in finding a franchise till the last minute playing out of his skin won the hotly contesting match for the Victorians on the last ball by three wickets.
Superman Mashrafe lifted all three championship trophies of all three versions of BPL. First two for Dhaka Franchise and now on the maiden venture of Comilla Franchise. Cricket unfolded all its melody and capacity crowd at home of Bangladesh cricket enjoyed every minute of the epic final.
A very enthralling and entertaining final featuring two deserving finalists Victorians and Bulls on the evening leading into the 44th anniversary of glorious victory day ( in Australia actually on the early hours of the victory day ) crowned the new franchise Comilla Victorians Champions.
Vanquished Bulls kept fighting till the last ball of the absorbing contest. Talented but underrated all-rounder Alok Kapali played robbed the match from the Bulls playing a glittering well-paced unbeaten innings of 39.
The fate of the match was hanging in the balance till the last over. New generation cricket front commander Mashrafe Bin Mortaza delivered another master stroke. He bowled at business session, bowled miserly three-overs and during that time removed impact player Shabbir Raman.
He kept his cool despite his main weapon young Abu Haidar failing to deliver on the day and two important catches being floored. He promoted Alok Kapali above the player of the tournament Ashar Zaidi much to the surprise of even the commentators.
Kapali was ignored by all franchise in the players choice till the last minute. On the day he also dropped a catch early. Yet Mashrafe knew the fire in him. What a great way he repaid the faith in him.
He held the Victorians innings together keeping his calm. In the last two overs when over 11 runs were required, he delivered killer punches. Those who underrate him as a spent force despite his regular top performance in domestic cricket must feel ashamed.
The feature of the match was also BPL tournament committee’s faith in Bangladesh Cricket Icon freedom fighter cricketer Roquibul Hasan performing the duty of match refereeing.
The TV footage showed nothing wrong. The hue and cry created by one TV channel (sponsor of a particular franchise) for an earlier match about toss manipulation was perhaps an ill motivated attempt to malign a true patriot.
Mashrafe won the toss and in anticipation of dew factor elected to field. The stadium was full to the brim with colorful admirers making it a festive event. It was nerve wrecking final.
As it happens in such cases Victorians, young tramp card Abu Haidar Rony who was a sensation all through showed his nerve. But ever reliable Ashar Zaidi removed Mehedi Maruf early bringing in Prsanna and Sabbir Rahman together as early as fourth over.
In absence of Gayle ( now in Melbourne) and E Lewis nursing his injury great expectation was pinned on Shabbir after his back to back Gayle modeled innings in the previous two matches. He started with care. Prassana was in blistering form. He was dropped off Rony.
Perhaps that had put off the youngster a little bit .He lost his line and length. Great Mashrafe bowling with few steps moved the ball maintaining his pin point accuracy.
He struck gold removing Shabbir before he could unleash. This brought two very accomplished technically perfect senior pros Mahamudullah Riad and Shariar Nafis for a match defining 81 fourth wicket partnership. 
Silent killer Mahamudullah scored 48 in 36 deliveries in which he did not play any stroke in anger. Nafis remained unbeaten on 44. At midway through 156/4 appeared as a challenging score in the final.
The Victorian response also ran into early trouble as Liton again failed to deliver. But two seasoned campaigners Imrul Kayes and Ahmed Shehzad were on song.
Like Abu Haidar in Victorians, attack young Al Amin also appeared struck with big match phobia. Kayes punished anything short or on his pad. He was in blistering form. Shehzad was also looking good.
Victorians appeared to be cruising till Mahamudullah coming to the attack struck two vital blows removing two settled batsman Shehzad and Kayes with superbly controlled spin bowling.
Many thought Mashrafe gambled promoting Alok Kapali over inform impact player Ashar Zaidi. But the far sighted captain knew the hunger of talented Kapali. He stood firm although wickets were tumbling around him.
One after another Zaidi, Stevens, Mashrafe and Shubhagato Hom perished. 23 runs were required in the last 10 deliveries. Kapali changed gear and delivered in a brilliant fashion scoring the winning run in the last ball of the last over delivered by Pakistani speedster Mohammad Sami.
We read Kapali was shocked when no franchise showed interest in him. Victorians picked him at the last minute. Who else other than Mashrafe knew the fire in him and how he paid back the faith of his commander. He robbed the match from the Bulls in the last ball thriller after Kevon Copper created sensation taking two wickets in the 19th over. 
Bulls played a heroic final also .But in the battle of nerves they lost. Captain Mahmuddualh’s brilliant all round performance (48 runs, 2/23 and an important catch) just could not get them through. It was only fitting that Mashrafe lifted the trophy once more.
Victorians earned Victory on the eve of Victory day celebration. The curtain dropped of a fascinating edition of BPL.
Victorians, Mashrafe and Cricket won BPL 2015. Bulls can also look back with pride.
Many lessons can be taken from the match. T20 batting needs skills like Shahriar Nafees, Mahamudullah, Imrul Kayes and Alok Kapali. Youngsters like Shabbir and Liton failed for getting nervy. Same thing happened with two outstanding bowlers Abu Haidar Rony and al Amin Hossain.
What can be told about one and only Mashrafe? Whatever he touches turns gold. Nature keeps on showering its blessings on this new generation cricket front commander. It has almost become impossible to win matches against a team having Mashrafe whether he plays on one leg. A brave Bangladeshi, a true tiger.
Night before 16 December is a night of nostalgia for this writer .Moreover, being more than 10,000 KM away from home felt the urge of watching live the match on channel 9.
The match started at 10:30 PM (Queensland Time). Took out grandson Zuhaier to Woddie Point a heavenly place in the evening beside Moreton Bay. Got back home after fabulous dinner at a halal Thai restaurant. The match continued till 3:00 AM into 16th December 2015.
Even our 54-day-old Grandson opened his eyes when the fans at SBNCS were enjoying the fireworks. Let us dedicate this joy to the immortal memories of martyred freedom fighters whose supreme sacrifice got us the green and red.
BDST: 0832 HRS, DEC 16, 2015
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