Vikings eye quick turnaround against SuperStars
The Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 went off to a fabulous start yesterday and another fascinating matchday is expected at the home of cricket - Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium - today.
Chittagong Vikings v Sylhet Super Stars
The Super Stars will be in action for the first time as they take on the Vikings in the day game. Pakistanis Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir will not be available before next month as the Mushfiqur Rahim-led Super Stars are expected to field the Lankan duo of Dilshan Munaweera and Ajantha Mendis, English all-rounder Ravi Bopara and Australian Brad Hodge as their four foreigners. Mominul Haque must use this opportunity to remove the tag of “Test specialist” as his contribution at the top will be key for Sylhet.
The Vikings could have come in the match with a win, but they can only blame their luck. Although they have had little time to gather themselves after the defeat, they should not worry much. Their squad has the depth needed to win, but their fielding is something they should not take lightly.
Even Tamim Iqbal, the Vikings skipper who scored a mesmerising 51 off 32 balls yesterday, admitted, “It was a fantastic match [yesterday]. We should have scored 20 more runs. [Mohammad] Amir bowled brilliantly and we lost our way in the middle overs. The two catches we dropped cost us the match.”
Rangpur Riders v Barisal Bulls
Before the start of the BPL, Rangpur’s depth in the squad was hailed by every cricket analyst. It all seemed to fall apart after their first half against the Vikings yesterday, but experience had the final say as Misbah-ul Haq and Thisara Perera landed a win that was not even in sight with five overs left in the game. Shakib al Hasan, who had arrived from the US late Saturday night, looked tired in the two expensive overs he bowled while his batting approach was terrible. The result under the belt is expected to bring out more from the team which also comprises youngsters like Abu Jayed and Al Amin playing vital roles.
Shakib was right when he said, “It’s a good start for the BPL and some of our foreign batsmen showed how to play T20 cricket. The partnership between Misbah and Al-Amin brought us back into the game. Our top-order did not perform well and our bowling too needs improvement.”
Misbah, whose calculated innings set the platform to win, had earlier stated, “We just came together as a team in the morning [yesterday]” and if that was the case, then the win should be enough to gel the team together.
Chris Gayle, the big buy in the tournament, will not be available till next month as the Bulls will have to rely particularly on their all-rounders. An average team on paper, the batting duty should be shared around by Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman and Brendan Taylor. Lots of eyes will be on Shahriar Nafees too, the discarded national opener who finished as the top run-scorer in the domestic first-class competition this season. Meanwhile, a lot will also depend on the contributions from offspinner-batsmen Sohag Gazi and Sharifullah.
SOURCE: DhakaTribune
