In a thrilling encounter in the second Qualifiers, Fortune Barishal emerged triumphant against Rangpur Riders, clinching a six-wicket win and securing their spot in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL-2024) final. Leading the charge was the ever-reliable Mushfiqur Rahim, who played a crucial innings of 47 runs off 38 balls.
Fortune Barishal is now set to face Comilla Victorians in the highly anticipated BPL final scheduled for Friday, March 1, at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
In pursuit of Rangpur’s target of 150 runs, Fortune Barishal faced an early setback with opener Mehidy Hasan Miraz departing in the third over. Skipper Tamim Iqbal contributed only 10 runs before his dismissal. However, Soumya Sarkar steadied the innings with a 47-run partnership alongside Mushfiqur Rahim before falling victim to Mohammad Nabi’s bowling, scoring 22 runs off 18 balls.
Mushfiqur Rahim then anchored the innings, forming a crucial 50-run partnership with Kyle Mayers. Mayers departed after contributing 119 runs to the team’s total. Mushfiqur Rahim, in partnership with ‘Killer Miller’ David Miller, guided Fortune Barishal to victory, remaining unbeaten with 47 runs while Miller chipped in with 22 runs.
For Rangpur, Abu Hider Rony claimed 2 wickets, while Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mohammad Nabi each took one wicket.
Earlier in the match, Fortune Barishal captain Tamim Iqbal won the toss and elected to field. Rangpur Riders, led by blistering innings from Shamim Hossain Patwari, managed to post a competitive total of 149/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
Patowari’s explosive knock of 59 runs off just 24 balls revived Rangpur’s innings after they found themselves in trouble at 77/7. James Neesham also contributed with 28 runs off 22 balls. However, Shakib Al Hasan and Rony Talukdar failed to make an impact, scoring only 1 and 8 runs respectively.
In the bowling department, James Fuller shone for Barishal with 3 wickets, supported by Mohammad Saifuddin’s 2 wickets, while Kyle Mayers and Mehidy Hasan Miraz each picked up one wicket.
