Litton, Hridoy energy defending champions Comilla into BPL remaining with 143-run stand

Comilla Victorians 186 for 4 (Litton 83, Hridoy 64, Farooqi 2-27) beat Rangpur Riders 185 for six (Neesham 97*, Nurul 30, Russell 2-37) by six wickets

Neesham, Litton and Hridoy’s innings gave the impression to be a simply reward for a 25,000-plus crowd on the Shere Bangla National Stadium, which had witnessed a comparatively one-sided Eliminator match earlier within the day.

Hridoy struck 64 off 43 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes, whereas Litton smacked 9 fours and 4 sixes in an innings of 83 from 57 deliveries. The pair added 143 for the second wicket after Sunil Narine’s first-ball dismissal.

Hridoy and Litton bought Comilla’s steep chase going virtually instantly, the previous hammering Hasan Mahmud for 22 runs within the fifth over. Litton then went after Neesham, hitting him for a 4 and a six, to finish the powerplay. Hridoy hit two extra sixes, whereas Litton additionally bought a six within the subsequent 4 overs.

Hridoy struck the ball strongly by the leg facet, whereas Litton stored up the tempo with three fours off Neesham within the thirteenth over. The partnership ended within the fifteenth over when Shakib Al Hasan held on to Hridoy’s swipe down the bottom.

But Litton continued to maintain the chase on monitor with extra boundaries earlier than falling with 13 runs required to win, which have been knocked off within the subsequent 4 authorized deliveries.

Earlier, Rangpur’s innings had modified its course when Neesham walked in to bat within the fifth over. Rangpur had already misplaced Shakib, Shamim Hossain and Rony Talukdar earlier than Neesham and Mahedi Hasan added 39 for the fourth wicket.

Mahedi fell within the ninth over, earlier than Neesham added one other helpful 38 with Nicholas Pooran for the fifth wicket. Pooran, who arrived in Dhaka solely on Monday morning, made 14 off 9 balls, earlier than Neesham was joined by captain Nurul Hasan to stabilise Rangpur’s innings.

That is when Neesham opened up, as he and Nurul added 53, with Neesham climbing into the Comilla bowlers. He struck most of his seven sixes over midwicket, at occasions shuffling to the off facet to fetch the ball and hit the bowlers on the leg facet.

Neesham struck three sixes and two fours within the final over of Rangpur’s innings as Comilla’s teenager Musfik Hasan conceded 27 – the opposite run was from a bye – with the overall of 28 being essentially the most in an over on this season’s BPL. Musfik’s 4 overs value 72, and turned out to be the most costly spell in BPL historical past.

But it did not value Comilla, though Rangpur now have a second shot on the remaining as they tackle Fortune Barishal in Qualifier 2 in Dhaka on Wednesday.