Tamim leads Victorians to fourth win

Victorians opener Tamim Iqbal plays a shot in the match against Titans at Sylhet International Stadium on 18 January. Photo: Prothom Alo
Victorians opener Tamim Iqbal plays a shot in the match against Titans at Sylhet International Stadium on 18 January. Photo: Prothom Alo

Tamim Iqbal struck his first fifty of the sixth season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Friday and guided Comilla Victorians to clinch their fourth win of the season over Khulna Titans by three wickets, reports UNB.

Khulna batted in the first innings and posted a big total of 181 runs for seven wickets. Comilla started chasing it down with a positive start as opener-duo Tamim Iqbal and Anamaul Haque added 115 runs which has set the platform for Victorians' win.

Tamim fell as the first wicket of Comilla scoring 73 off 42 balls with the help of 12 fours and a six. In the last two matches, he failed to add anything to the team's total. But on Friday, he was hell-bent to do something remarkable.

Anamul Haque disappointed to carry on after the dismissal of Tamim Iqbal. But, Imrul Kayes was determined. He added 28 runs on the board.

Despite the good start, Shamsur Rahman and Liam Dawson of Comilla disappointed. But, Thisara Perera was there to take Victorians to home.

Perera hit a fifty in his first match in this season of the BPL, but failed to ensure a win for Comilla. But this time, he struck 12 off seven balls and left the field ensuring a hard-fought win for his team.

Khulna's Pakistani pacer Junaid Khan took four wickets, but that was not enough for his team to avoid a loss.

Earlier, in the first innings of the match, Khulna Titans put a big total of 181 runs on the board. Left-handed opener Junaid Siddique hit 70 off 41 balls with four sixes. Al Amin was the second highest runs getter for Khulna hitting 32 off 19 balls.

Despite a poor start of losing the first wickets in two runs, Khulna ensured a big total which was their highest runs in the ongoing season.

Pakistan superstar Shahid Afridi took three wickets for the Victorians while other Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz scalped two wickets for them.