Sylhet Super Stars 62/1 (Junaid 34*, Hasan 23*) beat Barisal Bulls 58 (Bopara 3-12, Rubel 2-6) by nine wickets
Sylhet Super Stars made an unbelievable turnaround in the BPL by bowling out the red-hot Barisal Bulls for 58, the lowest-ever total in the BPL and then chasing it with ease to win by nine wickets. The massive swing in fortune – Sylhet lost five of their six matches previously – coincided with Shahid Afridi replacing Mushfiqur Rahim as captain for the remainder of the tournament.
This was also the second time in the competition that Barisal were bowled out for a sub-100 score and the fourth instance in this year’s competition for the team batting first. Sylhet also completed the fastest chase, closing out the game with 51 balls to spare, overtaking the previous record help by Comilla Victorians, who beat Rangpur Riders with 49 balls to spare.
The previous lowest total was Khulna’s 67 all out in the 2013 edition. Ravi Bopara’s three wickets apart, Afridi bowled the most economical four-over spell in the BPL, giving away just five runs to take two wickets while Shahid and Rubel also finished with two wickets each.
Dilshan Munaweera ramped a catch to third-man in the first over before Junaid Siddique and Nurul Hasan took control of the shortest chase quickly. Junaid was unbeaten on 34 off 37 balls with six fours while Hasan was 23 not out. The speed at which they knocked off the target would have pleased the Sylhet’s fans.
