BPL 1st Semi-Final Report: Shehzad ton guide Barisal Burners in BPL Final

Ahmed Shehzad smashed the fastest century of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as back-from-the-dead Barisal Burners thrashed Duronto Rajshahi by eight wickets to race to final of the inaugural Twenty20 tournament the first semi-final on Tuesday.

The 19-year old Pakistani remained unbeaten on 113 off 49 balls, having set the chase alight with his sparkling century off just 40 balls with 12 fours and five sixes. The Burners eventually made 189 for two with four overs to spare in the first semi-final.

Barisal only made it to the last four after much confusion and drama after the BPL governing body early on Tuesday said they will play Rajshahi instead of Chittagong Kings. But the initial disappointment and then the uncertainty did not dent their morale or performance in the field.

Chasing 185 runs for victory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, the opener set the chase ablaze with his sparkling century and was unconquered, having hit 12 boundaries and six sixes to become the BPL’s highest individual scorer.

Phil Mustard (33) fashioned a 74-run partnership for the second-wicket with Shehzad before being taken out by Sabbir Rahman with the team close to the coast.

The first wicket partnership, worth 103 runs, raised Burners’ chances of getting to the target. Even though opener Brad Hodge (33) was bowled by Saqlain Sajib, the runs were coming thick and fast.

Earlier, Duronto Rajshahi smarted from a disastrous start to post a handsome 184 for 6 on board.

Abdul Razzaq (32) hit some lusty blows at the fag end of the innings having got a reprieve on 15 when Nazmul Islam took the catch at deep extra cover but stepped out of the boundary for a six and lifted the team’s total.

Sean Ervine, after playing a superlative knock of 82 off 61 balls, was run out by Kabir Ali in the final over of their innings. He smashed eight boundaries and three sixes in his knock, having reached his half-century off 40 balls in a pressure situation.

He put on 110-run partnership for the fourth wicket with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (58) as the two took the attack to the Barisal bowlers.

Mushfiqur was run out – he tried to take a second run and beaten by a strong throw by Yasir Arafat from the deep – after bringing up his fifty off just 28 deliveries that contained six boundaries and three sixes.

Duronto got off the blocks in the worst possible manner after the Burners won the toss and chose to field first.

In-form Shahzaib Hasan (2) started the debacle in the third ball, slicing a Yasir Arafat delivery high up in the air. Junaid Siddique was out the next ball for a golden duck as he played a yorker-length delivery onto his stumps.

Marlon Samuels was the victim of a poor decision in the final ball of that over as umpire Sharfuddoula adjudged him lbw to an Arafat delivery that was going down the leg side and replays showed the ball would have clearly missed the leg stump.

Arafat, always in the thick of things, returned with figures of 3 for 30.

BPL 1st Semi-Final : Full Scorecard

	Duronto Rajshahi innings (20 overs maximum)		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	Shahzaib Hasan	c Farhad Hossain b Yasir Arafat	2	2	3	0	0	66.66
	Junaid Siddique	b Yasir Arafat	0	4	1	0	0	0.00
	MN Samuels	lbw b Yasir Arafat	0	3	1	0	0	0.00
	SM Ervine	run out (Ali)	82	82	61	8	3	134.42
	Mushfiqur Rahim*†	run out (Yasir Arafat)	58	53	33	6	3	175.75
	Abdul Razzaq	not out	32	30	19	3	2	168.42
	Sabbir Rahman	lbw b Ali	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
	Mohammad Sami	not out	6	1	1	0	1	600.00
	Extras	(lb 3, w 1)	4
	Total	(6 wickets; 20 overs; 91 mins)	184	(9.20 runs per over)

Did not bat: Monir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Saqlain Sajib

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Shahzaib Hasan, 0.3 ov), 2-2 (Junaid Siddique, 0.4 ov), 3-3 (Samuels, 0.6 ov), 4-113 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 13.1 ov), 5-171 (Ervine, 19.2 ov), 6-178 (Sabbir Rahman, 19.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Yasir Arafat	4	0	30	3	7.50
	Kabir Ali	4	0	38	1	9.50
	Farhad Hossain	1	0	15	0	15.00
	Nazmul Islam	4	0	25	0	6.25	(1w)
	BJ Hodge	1	0	11	0	11.00
	Suhrawadi Shuvo	2	0	27	0	13.50
	Ahmed Shehzad	2	0	15	0	7.50
	Alauddin Babu	2	0	20	0	10.00

	Barisal Burners innings (target: 185 runs from 20 overs)		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	Ahmed Shehzad	not out	113	75	49	12	6	230.61
	BJ Hodge*	b Saqlain Sajib	33	35	23	3	2	143.47
	P Mustard†	c Samuels b Sabbir Rahman	33	34	20	6	0	165.00
	Nazmul Islam	not out	5	4	4	1	0	125.00
	Extras	(lb 1, w 4)	5
	Total	(2 wickets; 16 overs; 75 mins)	189	(11.81 runs per over)

Did not bat: Mominul Haque, Alauddin Babu, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Mithun Ali, Farhad Hossain, Yasir Arafat, Kabir Ali

Fall of wickets: 1-103 (Hodge, 7.5 ov), 2-177 (Mustard, 14.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Mohammad Sami	3	0	30	0	10.00	(1w)
	SM Ervine	2	0	30	0	15.00	(3w)
	Monir Hossain	2	0	25	0	12.50
	Abdul Razzaq	1	0	26	0	26.00
	MN Samuels	3	0	25	0	8.33
	Saqlain Sajib	3	0	31	1	10.33
	Sabbir Rahman	1	0	9	1	9.00
	Taijul Islam	1	0	12	0	12.00

Match details:

Toss: Barisal Burners, who chose to field Series: Barisal Burners advanced to BPL Final

Player of the match: Ahmed Shehzad (Barisal Burners)

Umpires: DL Orchard (South Africa) and Sharfuddoula TV umpire: Enamul Haque Match referee: MJ Procter (South Africa) Reserve umpire: Gazi Sohel

Match notes:

Duronto Rajshahi innings Rajshahi’s 50 Runs in 5.3 Over 27 Mins Power play 0.1-6.0(Mandatory-51 Runs,3 wickets) Mushfiqur’s 50 runs of 28 Balls 43 Mins 4×6,6×3 Rajshahi’s 100 Runs in 11.5 Over 52 mins S.Ervine’s 50 Runs of 40 balls 52 Mins 4×5,6×2 Rajshahi’s 150 Runs in 18.0 Over 80 Mins Barisal Burners innings Barishal’s 50 Runs in 3.3 Over 18 Mins Shehzad’s 50 runs in 16 Balls 24 Mins 4×3,6×5 Power play 0.1-6.0(Mandatory-86 Runs,0 wickets) Barisal’s 100 runs in 7.2 Over 33 Mins A Shehzad’s 100 Runs of 40 Balls 56 Mins 4×12,6×5 Barisal’s 150 Runs in 12.4 Overs 61 Mins

 

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