Thisara Perera and Akbar Ali’s cameo after Mohammad Haris’ 44 off 32 balls helped Sylhet Strikers extend their undefeated streak in the ninth Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), as they defeated Dhaka Dominators by five wickets at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Monday.
The low-scoring match was seemingly headed towards Dhaka’s way, when Sylhet required 20 off the final two overs on a pitch where the ball was keeping low.
Both Perera and Akbar were new to the crease and batting on four and two respectively.
But the match turned on the penultimate over, when Perera hit a couple of fours and Akbar hit a six behind the keeper’s head off Pakistani pacer Salman Irshad to leave only three runs for the final over.
The pair scored the remaining runs off in the first two balls of the 20th over, taking Sylhet to 134-5 in 19.2 overs and secured their fifth straight win in the BPL.
Perera, who hit a six to finish the chase, remained unbeaten on 21 off 11 balls while Akbar was not out on 10 off five balls.
Dhaka skipper Nasir Hossain had a good day with both bat and ball. He scored 39 off 31 balls to help Dhaka recover from an early slump and post 128-7 before claiming 2-19 in his four overs.
But his all-round efforts went in vain.