Comilla Victorians continued their late charge in the BPL by beating Khulna Titans by five wickets in Mirpur. Marlon Samuels struck a match-winning, unbeaten 69 off 57 balls that included eight fours, to help Comilla register their third consecutive win.
After Ahmed Shehzad fell in the first over, Samuels added 49 runs for the second wicket with Imrul Kayes. However, Kayes and Khalid Latif fell in quick succession, which prompted Mashrafe Mortaza to promote himself to keep Comilla in check with the asking rate.
He hammered three sixes in his 11-ball 20, before Samuels and Liton Das added the last 42 runs to complete the win. Liton’s unbeaten 24 came off 11 balls, with three of his five fours coming in the 17th over off Shafiul Islam. Samuels hit the winning runs with eight balls to spare.
He was successful by hammering three sixes in his 11-ball 20, cutting down the run-rate before Samuels and Liton Das added the last 42 runs to complete the win. Liton’s unbeaten 24 came off 11 balls, with three of his five fours coming in the 16th over off Shafiul Islam. Samuels hit the winning runs with eight balls to spare.
After opting to bowl, Mashrafe was Comilla’s best bowler. Coming off a short run up, he removed Abdul Mazid with his first ball. Mashrafe then dismissed Hasanuzzaman, who made 29 off 26 balls with two fours and a six. Mashrafe finished with 3 for 16 from his four overs. Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad Saifuddin and Rashid Khan also picked up a wicket each.
For Khulna, Mahmudullah’s unbeaten 40 off 38 balls took them to a competitive score after another slow start. (ESPNcricinfo)
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent.
