Tamim Iqbal at the start and Rishad Hossain at the end, trumped Parvez Hossain & Co. as Fortune Barishal beat Chittagong Kings by three wickets in a thrilling final to clinch their second successive title of BPL at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
After being put into bat first by Barishal, Chattogram posted 194-3 in 20 overs, which is the third highest in the BPL final, thanks to twin fifties from their opener Parvez Hossain and Khawaja Nafay and a quickfire 40 from Graham Clark.
But an explosive start from Tamim and a cameo from Rishad (18* off 6), backed by Kyle Mayers in the middle, ensured Barishal鈥檚 win with three balls remaining. Barishal, having won nine times while chasing, made it 10 to pull off the highest successful chase in a BPL final.
In an electrifying Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, where the galleries were dominated by the reds of Barishal, Parvez Hossain and Khawaja Nafay got a flying start for Chittagong as they added 57 runs in the powerplay鈥攖he highest in BPL final and 93 in the first 10 overs.
They continued to dominate as Parvez was the main destroyer. Nafay, though, soon caught him up. Parvez brought up his second fifty鈥攂oth came against Barishal鈥攐f the season in 30 balls, while Nafay needed 37 balls to reach his third fifty in five innings.
Tamim rotated his bowlers regularly but couldn鈥檛 find the breakthrough. Finally, Ebadot Hossain got Nafay (66 off 44) in the 12th over, ending the 121-run opening partnership, which is the highest in BPL final.
Chittagong, however, got going as Clark and Parvez continued to attack in their 40-ball partnership of 70 runs.
But their last four overs weren鈥檛 exactly the reflection of the innings, as those yielded 31 runs. There were only two boundary-less overs in the Chittagong innings, and both came in that phase.
Clark made 44 off 23 before being run out in the last over while Parvez remained unbeaten on 78 off 49 balls.
Barishal鈥檚 fifth bowler鈥檚 quota was filled by Tanvir Islam and Rishad Hossain, and they conceded 66 runs in their collective four overs.
But Tamim started in high-octane mode to lift Barishal鈥檚 spirit early in the chase as Barishal added 57 in the powerplay, the exact amount Chittagong put in.
With his vintage collection of drives, the southpaw reached his fifty in just 24 balls with nine fours and one six, which brought him his landmark.
Shoriful Islam made the first breakthrough in his double-wicket over when he got Tamim (54 off 29) and Dawid Malan in four balls.
Towhid Hridoy couldn鈥檛 make up for his slow start as he became Naeem Islam鈥檚 first victim after making 32 off 28. Mushfiqur Rahim also fell off Naeem before adding 34 off 14 with Kyle Mayers for the fourth wicket.
Mayers got Barishal so close before getting out for 46 off 28 when Barishal needed 23 from 15 balls. Shoriful then made it his second double-wicket over as Mahmudullah followed Mayers after making a miserable seven off 11.
That left Barishal in a nervy situation as they needed 20 off the last 12. But Rishad Hossain hit six off Binura Fernando, and some sloppy fielding from Chittagong swung it to Barishal before Nabi fell on the last ball of that over.
Barishal needed eight from the last six, and Rishad hit Hussain Talat for six on the first ball. Rishad took a single in the second before Tanvir missed the third. He missed the next one too, but umpires calling it a wide ensured Barishal鈥檚 thrilling victory.