Comilla Victorians ended as the winners of the Bangladesh Premier League 2022 on February 18, securing victory by just one run against Fortune Barishal in what was a thrilling summit-clash in Dhaka.
Victorians’ Shohidul Islam bowled a crucial final over and gave away just eight runs to keep the Barishal batting at bay and clinch a win for his team under immense pressure. With three needed off the final ball, the Victorians secured the run-out of lower-order batter Mujeeb-ur-Rahman while he was aiming to get across for a two and erupted in a memorable celebration.
Shohidul hadn’t had a good day up until that point, as he gave away 28 runs off his first three overs. But he came to the party when it mattered the most. However, in a truer sense, it was the spin duo of Sunil Narine (2/15) and Tanvir Islam (2/25) who took the game away from Barishal. Defending a target of 152, the duo gave just 40 runs off their eight overs and took two wickets apiece.
In the first half, Victorians made a competitive total for another dryish surface at the Shere Bangla, thanks largely to Narine’s magnificent 57 off 23 deliveries at the top of the order. The pinch-hitter did his job commendably, allowing Victorians to maximise the crucial powerplay overs by hitting five fours and five sixes during his stay.
The vital nature of Narine’s innings can be gauged by the fact that after the West Indian, nobody found it easy to put the ball off the square for the Victorians. Their next highest individual score was 38 off 32 from Moeen Ali.
Barishal had two stand-out performers with the ball in Mujeeb (2/27) and Shafiqul Islam (2/31) and notable contributions with the bat from Chris Gayle (33) and Shykat Ali (58). But in the end, Narine’s magnificent allround display overshadowed all of them and ensured a third BPL title win for the Victorians.
Brief scores
Comilla Victorians 151/9 in 20 overs (Narine 57, Moeen Ali 38; Mujeeb-ur-Rahman 2/27) beat Fortune Barishal 150/8 in 20 overs (Shykat Ali 58, Gayle 33; Narine 2/15) by 1 run
