Sports Desk: Ibrahim Zadran’s half-century and Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s brisk 43 off 29 balls helped Fortune Barishal defeat Rangpur Riders by six wickets in a heated match at the ninth Bangladesh Premier League which saw Barishal players having multiple confrontations with the umpires.
Ibrahim, who made 52 off 41 balls, and Miraz shared an 84-run partnership off 58 deliveries that set up the base for Barishal’s first win in their second match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
After their dismissals, Pakistan’s Iftikhar Ahmed (25 off 18 balls) and Afghanistan’s Karim Janat (21 off 14 balls) formed an unbroken 38-run stand off 24 deliveries to take Barishal to 162-4 in 19.2 overs.
Earlier, veteran Pakistani batter Shoab Malik made 54 off 36 balls and in-form batter Rony Talukdar scored 40 off 28 balls to help Rangpur post 158-7.
Barishal’s chase began after some drama over who will take first strike and who will open the bowling for Rangpur.
The openers and opening bowlers swapped places twice before Barishal captain Shakib Al Hasan stormed onto the field and had a heated argument with the umpire.
Fortune Barishal captain Shakib Al Hasan having an argument with the umpire during their ninth Bangladesh Premier League against Rangpur Riders at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 10 January, 2023
Once the innings began after the drama, Barishal lost opener Chaturanga de Silva in the very first over to Rakibul Hasan for just one run.
The situation at the middle once again got chaotic in the fourth over, this time over an lbw decision against Anamul Haque (15 off 11 balls).
Anamul was hit on the pads and given lbw. But the opener claimed he touched the ball with his bat and reviewed the decision.
The third umpire used the much debated Additional Decision Review System (ADRS) to review the decision and chose to uphold the umpire’s call.
Anamul was infuriated by the decision and hung around to let his displeasure known to the umpires before finally leaving the field furious.
From 18-2 in 3.1 overs, Miraz and Ibrahim took control over the chase. The partnership ended in the 13th over when Miraz got caught off Robiul Haque.
Two overs later, Ibrahim also departed with Barishal still needing 35 runs off 28 balls.
But Iftikhar and Janat didn’t let the pressure get to them and took their side home with four balls to spare.
