Chittagong Kings 164 for 8 (Nafay 57, Talat 40, Musfik 3-32) beat Khulna Tigers 163 for 6 (Hetmyer 63, Mahidul 41, Fernando 2-27) by two wickets
Al Islam’s last-ball four, that too a classic cover drive, took Chittagong Kings to the BPL final. In an absolute see-saw battle, Aliss came back after injuring himself earlier in the last over, to hit the winning boundary and beat Khulna Tigers by two wickets in the second qualifier.
Islam was unbeaten on 17 off seven balls, with two fours and a six, to take the Chittagong franchise into their second BPL final. They will face defending champions, and favourites, Fortune Barishal at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
Chasing Khulna’s 163 for 6, Chittagong were all but out of the contest before Aliss got them back with his surprise cameo. Earlier, Khulna were powered by Shimron Hetmyer’s 63 to reach 163 for 6 in 20 overs. They felt they were at least 15 runs short after scoring at less than six runs an over for the first 16 overs.
Aliss the King
Chittagong’s batting order, that lacked depth, was left exposed when tail-ender Khaled Ahmed walked in to bat at No 7. They slipped from 105 for 2 to 130 for 7 between overs 13 and 17. Arafat Sunny and Aliss then added 26 runs, with both hitting a couple of boundaries each.
When Aliss slipped in the last over, he hurt his ankle. Shoriful Islam walked in, inside edged a boundary. But he fell next ball, and Chittagong’s players put on Aliss’ pads for him and he walked out again. He smashed Musfik Hasan for a boundary and sparked huge celebrations.
More to follow
