Defending champions Comilla Victorians won the toss and invited Sylhet Strikers to bat first in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2023 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.
Both Comilla and Sylhet have fielded unchanged XIs from their previous match in a hope to bring home their fourth and first title respectively.
Comilla reached the final after defeating Sylhet comfortably in the first qualifier.
Sylhet then had to defeat Rangpur Riders in the second qualifier to secure a rematch against Comilla in the final.
This is Comilla’s fourth final. The Victorians are undefeated in BPL finals, winning all three of their previous ones.
On the other hand, this is the first time a franchise from Sylhet has managed to make it this far in BPL.
This is the Striker’s maiden appearance in the BPL and they have the golden opportunity of going all the way.
This is also Sylhet captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s 100th match as captain in BPL. Mashrafe has already won four titles as skipper in the last eight editions of BPL, two for Dhaka Gladiators, one each for Rangpur Riders and Comilla Victorians.
The pacer now has a chance to take his tally to five.
Comilla Victorians: Liton Das, Sunil Narine, Johnson Charles, Imrul Kayes(c), Mosaddek Hossain, Moeen Ali, Jaker Ali(w), Andre Russell, Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mukidul Islam
Sylhet Strikers: Towhid Hridoy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Zakir Hasan, Ryan Burl, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Thisara Perera, George Linde, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Luke Wood, Rubel Hossain