Captain Mushfiq stars with the bat as Dhaka win three in a row

Beximco Dhaka brought their Bangabandhu T20 Cup campaign back on track, winning their third game in a row. They beat Gazi Group Chattogram by 7 runs in a thrilling encounter at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Monday. This is Chattogram's first defeat in the tournament. 

Chasing a tricky 146, Gazi Group Chattogram were off to the worst possible start, losing Soumya Sarkar in the very first over who got out for a duck. Mahmudul Hasan Joy, playing his first match in the tournament after recovering from Covid-19, put on a handy partnership of 48 with Liton Das for the second wicket. Joy got out in the 8th over, bringing skipper Mohammad Mithun to the crease. Liton Das played sensibly until he got out in the 14th over with score being 96 for three. The right-handed batsman top-scored with 47 off 39 with the help of three fours and a six. Robiul Islam Robi accounted for his wicket and Shofiqul Islam took a spectacular catch. His dismissal was a tough blow for Chattogram as they couldn't recover from it.

Nahidul Islam came in at number eight and struck two consecutive boundaries to get them back into the game. But Mosaddek Hossain couldn't get going and in the end, they needed 16 to win off the last over.

Mustafizur Rahman hit a six off Muktar Ali in the second delivery of the final over to make things exciting. But he had too much to do as Chattogram fell well short of the total by 7 runs.

Muktar Ali took three wickets for 39 runs. Rubel Hossain and Robiul Islam Robi got two apiece while Shafiqul Islam chipped in with the wicket of Mithun.

There was no surprise in the toss as Gazi Group Chattogram skipper Mohammad Mithun won the toss and chose to field. His decision immediately paid dividends. Chattogram bowlers restricted Dhaka to 23 for three in the fifth over. Shoriful Islam, the left-arm quick, claimed opener Naim Sheikh in the second over who got off to a decent start. Off-spinner Nahidul Islam kept up the good work in the powerplay as he got rid of Tanzid Hasan Tamim for a duck. 

Rakibul Hasan, the Under-19 World Cup-winning spinner, made early inroads in his first match. The youngster got Rahman, who was promoted to open the innings. Sabbir couldn't take advantage of the opportunity as he could manage only 7 off 10. 

The onus was on skipper Mushfiqur Rahim to revamp things. He paired up with Yasir Ali and kept the scoreboard ticking over. They put on 86 off 72 balls for the fourth wicket before Yasir got dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman, scoring 34 off 38 in the 17th over. But the skipper carried on and flourished, in the end, to post 145 for four after 20 overs. Mushfiqur remained unbeaten on 73 off 50. The right-hander struck seven boundaries and three sixes. Dhaka scored 50 off the last five overs.

Nahidul Islam was the pick of the bowlers. The off-spinner picked up the solitary wicket of Tanzid but conceded only 16 in his four. Mustafizur Rahman was economical too, giving away 19 in four overs as well as getting rid of Yasir Ali. Rakibul Islam was impressive as well, going for six-an-over and picking up a wicket. 

Mushfiqur Rahim, for a sublime innings of an unbeaten 70, was adjudged player of the match.