‌BPL 2024 | Fortune favors brave Barishal as Shehzad, Mahmudullah, and Imran leave Strikers thirsty for maiden win

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Torrid times extend for the Sylhet Strikers as the hunt for a maiden win continues after 49 runs drubbing in the hands of Fortune Barishal. Ahmed Shehzad and Mahmudullah’s fifties were backed by disciplined bowling with Mohammad Imran leading the charge with a four-for in Sylhet.

Being forced to bat first Fortune Barishal got an unpleasant start after skipper Tamim Iqbal and Pritom Kumar departed inside the powerplay off Nayeem Hasan and Richard Ngarava. The scoreboard reflected 33/2 after 4.2 overs with Ahmed Shehzad scoring the bulk of runs and extended the total to 47/2 at the cusp of powerplay. The Pakistan batter was assisted by Soumya Sarkar until the innings’ halfway mark, adding 50 runs together for the third wicket before the latter was bowled by English domestic veteran, Benny Howell. However, there was no stoppage of runs from the bat of Shehzad who went on notch 66 off 41 that saw nine fours and a couple of sixes. Mushfiqur Rahim played second fiddle to Shehzad and Mahmudullah Riyad before Howell outfoxed him to claim his third scalp of the contest. Barishal were going well with 134/5 after 17 overs and Mahmudullah stepped on the accelerator to bash the opposition bowlers left, right, and centre. His 24-ball 51 was accompanied by a quickfire from Mehidy Hasan Miraz that helped Barishal get to 186/5 at the end of the innings. 

Similar to their counterparts, Sylhet lost a couple of scalps inside the field restrictions as Najmul Hasan Shanto’s poor outing with the bat was followed by Shamsur Rahman’s brisk 25 off 23 balls. With the help of periodic boundaries, the Strikers accumulated 44 runs inside the powerplay but incurred a jolt after captain Mashrafe Murtaza was outdone by Khaled Ahmed in the final ball of the seventh over. Zakir Hasan and Benny Howell tried to soak the pressure and helped the side get to 69/3 midway through the chase. The pair orchestrated 58 runs together for the fourth wicket before they followed each other to the hut on back-to-back deliveries in the 14th and 15th over. The Barishal bowlers crawled back in the contest and it paved the path for a lower order folding as the Strikers lost the remaining five wickets in a space of 20 deliveries with Mohammad Imran leading the bowling claiming a four-for in a 49 runs triumph.

The Twitterverse closely followed this contest and here’s how they opinioned in social media.

Nice

Another one

4 for!

Top gun!

Superb performance

Fantastic

Brilliant

What a knock!

Big W!!

Fabulous!

 

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