High voltage phase begins today

The first round of the Super League matches, which will see the top six teams of the Dhaka Premier League take on each other, will begin today with a series of promising encounters. Mushfiqur Rahim's Mohammedan, who are placed second with 14 points, will take on Soumya Sarkar's Legends of Rupganj, who also have 14 points, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

At the BKSP in Savar, Tamim Iqbal-led Abahani will face off against Nasir Hossain's Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club. And finally, league leaders Victoria Sporting will play Sabbir Rahman's Prime Bank Cricket Club, who with 12 points are placed in sixth place.

With just one point separating the top five teams, it shows just how competitive the tournament has been so far. And every team in the Super League has a point to prove.

Mushfiqur's Mohammedan seemed comfortable during most parts of the first phase of the league. However, a series of unexpected defeats towards the end meant that they had to win their last game in order to seal a spot in the final six. They managed to do that thanks to their skipper and foreign recruit Bipul Sharma, who has impressed both with the bat and the ball.

They will take on the Legends of Rupganj who probably feel as though they should have begun on top, rather than a disappointing fifth. Their last game before the Super League was scheduled to take place at the BKSP against Brothers Union. However, that particular game, to the surprise of many, turned out to be the only match of the competition that was washed out, despite the fact that there was a back-up day. Rupganj officials weren't happy and many of them blamed the reportedly shoddy approach of the groundsmen behind the cancellation of the match.

And so, when they take on Mohammedan at Mirpur today, they will be looking to prove their worth. More so because the last time these two teams met, Mohammedan won by seven wickets.

The game at the BKSP is bound to have similar levels of excitement. There was quite a bit of controversy  stirred up the last time Prime Doleshwar and Abahani faced each other. It was a nail-biting finish with the young Mosaddek Hossain standing tall till the end. He smacked a six and a four off the last two deliveries of the game and took Abahani home against the tide. There was however, a clear run-out that wasn't given in the last over of that match, which ended up tainting the exciting chase to an extent. While Abahani will be looking to live up to the potential its star-studded squad promises, Prime Doleshwar may be looking to set the record straight after the painful defeat in the sides' last meeting.

The game at Fatullah is expected to be more one-sided than the rest of the matches. Mominul's Victoria are expected to extend their lead at the top with a win over Prime Bank. However, the latter have shown glimpses of brilliance throughout the tournament and they have got powerful batsmen who can change the game if they hit form.

At the moment, it seems like the only force that can spoil the league's excitement today is Mother Nature.