Barishal in final again as Hridoy's 82* trumps Shamim's 79

Riding on an impressive performance by Pakistani pacer Mohammad Ali and local batter Towhid Hridoy, reigning champions Fortune Barishal booked their place in their second successive final of the Bangladesh Premier League with a nine-wicket win against Chittagong Kings in the Qualifier 1 in Mirpur on Monday.

Ali, who made his maiden BPL appearance, finished with a career-best performance of 5-24 after Kyle Mayers, who reached Dhaka in the morning after finishing his ILT20 stint, gave initial breakthroughs that helped Barishal limit Chittagong to 149-9 in 20 overs.

Hridoy then struck an unbeaten 82 off 56 balls and shared an unbroken second-wicket stand of 95 runs with Dawid Malan (34 not out) to ensure a safe passage as they reached 150-1 in 17.2 overs. 

Tamim Iqbal also made 29 runs during a 55-run opening stand with Hridoy before he was dismissed by pacer Khaled Ahmed.

Shamim Hossain Patwary's 79 had given Chittagong a fighting chance. Photo: Star

Despite the defeat, Chittagong still have a chance to qualify for the final as they will take on Khulna Tigers in the Qualifier 2 at the same venue on Wednesday. 

Chittagong's innings got some momentum when Shamim Hossain, pairing up with Parvez Hossain Emon, shared a 77-run stand for the fifth wicket but as soon as Emon got dismissed to Rishad Hossain after making run-a-ball 36, the innings crumbled.

Shamim was the lone warrior in Chittagong innings as the southpaw hit nine fours and four sixes for his 47-ball 79 runs before he became Ali's third victim of the contest. 

Later, Ali took the wickets Arafat Sunny (one) and Aliss Al Islam (0) in successive deliveries to complete his maiden fifer and also became the third bowler after Taskin Ahmed (7-19) and Faheem Ashraf (5-7) to claim a five-wicket haul in the ongoing meet.