Nahidul four-for overshadows Soumya’s return to form

Soumya Sarkar’s eye-soothing fifty was trumped by off-spinner Nahidul Islam’s four-wicket haul as Khulna Tigers bundled out Dhaka Dominators for a paltry 108-10 in 19.4 in their Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2023 match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Soumya scored 57 off 45 balls but his innings was overshadowed by Nahidul’s astounding figures of 4-6, the best so far in this year’s BPL.

Nahidul came on the attack in the second over and bowled four overs on the trot. He started with a double wicket maiden, dismissing Mizanur Rahman (one) and Usman Ghani (0).

He then bowled another maiden over and took the wickets of Mohammad Mithun (0) and Alex Blake (three) to leave Dhaka teetering on 38-4.

Opener Soumya was the lone exception in the Dhaka innings as the opener finally found some runs after a lean run in the tournament.

Soumya hit six fours and two sixes in the innings that announced his return to form. But other than him, none of the other recongnised batters of the Dhaka line-up managed to get into double figures.

Soumya’s innings ended when left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who finished with 3-11, broke through his defences in the 15th over.

Dhaka’s tailenders then somehow pushed their total beyond 100.

Earlier, Khulna won the toss and asked Dhaka to bat first.