Reigning champions Comilla Victorians became the first finalist of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)-T20 2023 after they beat Sylhet Strikers by four wickets in the first Qualifier match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday (Feb 12).
Comilla demonstrated another clinical performance with the ball as Tanvir Islam, Andre Russell and Mustafizur Rahman all claimed two wickets each to bowl Sylhet all out for 125 runs in 17.1 overs after they opted to ball first.
Najmul Hossain Shanto top scored for Sylhet with 38 off 29 balls while Mushfiqur Rahim and Mashrafe bin Mortaza made 29 and 26 runs respectively.
Comilla, in reply, were reduced to 73-4 in the 11th over but Mosaddek Hossain made run-a-ball 27 while Moeen Ali and Andre Russell scored 21 and 15 runs not out respectively as they reach 130-6 in 16.4 overs to confirm their fourth BPL final.
Comilla played in BPL finals in the 2015, 2018 and 2022 editions respectively and on all three occasions, they emerged as champions.
With this win, Comilla also stretched their winning streak to 10 matches in the ongoing tournament.
Sunil Narine also played an important role in the chase as he made 39 off 18 balls with three fours and four sixes after being promoted as an opener.
Comilla would surely be thankful to their opposition wicketkeeper Mushfiqur, who missed an easy stumping chance of Mosaddek when he was batting on six while he also missed two catches at crucial times.
Sylhet pacer Rubel Hossain is the most successful bowler finishing with 3-33.
Sylhet will now face Rangpur Riders in the second Qualifier match at the same venue on Tuesday. The winners of the match will face Comilla in the final at the same venue on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Rangpur qualified for the second Qualifier after they beat Fortune Barishal by four wickets in the Eliminator match in Mirpur.
