Tamim masterclass lands Comilla Victorians BPL title

Opener Tamim Iqbal hit a century to remember as Comilla Victorians beat Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs to win the final of the sixth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League in Dhaka on Friday.

The Bangladesh international slammed 141 in just 61 balls, hammering 10 fours and 11 sixes on the way, to become the first Bangladeshi to score a century in a BPL final.

Tamim’s explosive innings led Comilla to 199 for 3 at the end of 20 overs. Anamul Haque added 24 while skipper Imrul Kayes made 17.

In their chase, Dhaka were dealt a setback in the second ball of the innings when Sunil Narine was run out.

Opener Upul Tharanga and one-down Rony Talukdar then fired 102 by the 9th over and it looked like they would scale down the target with ease.

Tharanga’s 48 came in 27 balls courtesy of four fours and three sixes while Rony played a sensational innings of 66 runs, made off 38 deliveries thanks to six fours and four sixes.

But the run out of Rony and double strikes from Wahab Riaz and Thisara Perera changed the whole picture and Dhaka were left with an unassailable task.

They could only manage 182 for 9 in the end and last year’s losing finalists were once again had to be content with the runners-up trophy.

Tamim was predictably named the Player-of-the-Match.

It was Comilla’s second title in four years after their maiden triumph in 2015.