An unbeaten 141 off 61 deliveries from Tamim Iqbal helped Comilla Victorians capture their second Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title at Dhaka on Friday.
Tamim’s sensational innings helped the Victorians post a daunting 199-3 in their 20 overs before their bowlers restricted Dhaka Dynamites to 182-9 to seal a 17-run victory.
The Bangladesh stalwart’s maiden BPL ton contained 10 boundaries and a staggering 11 sixes with the southpaw single-handedly leading Victorians’ charge with the bat.
The opening batsman saw his partner Evin Lewis dismissed early but then took charge of the Victorians innings with some explosive hitting in the death overs. 10 of his 11 sixes on the day came off the last 33 deliveries he faced with Rubel Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan being carted for plenty of runs in their eight overs.
While Ruben conceded 48 runs from his four overs, Shakib was taken for 45. Only Sunil Narine was able to maintain some sense of calm in the eye of the Tamim-storm with the West Indies spinner finishing with figures of 0-18 from his four overs.
A maiden BPL ton for Tamim Iqbal. Image – BCB.
In response, the Dynamites lost Narine to a run out off just the second delivery of the innings before Upul Tharanga and Rony Talkukdar put on a 102-run stand for the second wicket.
Tharanga collected 48 runs from 27 balls while Talukdar smashed 66 off 38 as the hosts crossed the 100-run mark inside just nine overs in the chase.
However, once the two set batsmen were dismissed, the Dynamites’ innings fell away with Wahab Riaz striking with three quick-fire middle-order wickets. The Pakistan pacer dismissed Shakib, Kieron Pollard and Nurul Hasan in a terrific burst which saw the hosts reduced to 173-8.
There was no coming back for the Dynamites from that point as the franchise fell to their second BPL final loss in a row.
BRIEF SCORES
Comilla Victorians: 199-3 (20 overs)
Tamim Iqbal: 141 not out (61)
Dhaka Dynamites: 182-9 (20 overs)
Rony Talukdar: 66 (38)
Wahab Riaz: 3-28 (four overs)
