Ruthless Barishal through to BPL final by ending Rangpur Riders' journey

Wednesday's Qualifier 2 clash between Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Riders was deemed as the final before the final. It was also called the 'Shakib vs Tamim clash'. But none of the seasoned campaigners could do justice to that hype. Rather, it was Mushfiqur Rahim's calm and collective effort accompanied by a few cameos that comfortably took Barishal to the final, surviving a serious Shamim storm at Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Chasing a nervy 150, Barishal lost their openers - Tamim Iqbal and Mehidy Hasan Miraz - early and were reduced to 22/2 in the fourth over. Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiq then built a 47-run partnership to ease the pressure. 

Soumya departed for 22 but Mushfiq kept on going. He was then joined by Kyle Mayers who played a little cameo to all but seal the match for Barishal. Mayers hit three maximums and one boundary in his 28-run innings from 15 balls.

Mushfiq was calm and kept on rotating the strike as the required rate was never an issue. Barishal was also helped by Riders' poor bowling display, three of their bowlers went for 10 or more runs per over. 

Mushfiq remained unbeaten on 47 of 38 balls hitting six boundaries and one maximum. Barishal's South African recruit David Miller hit a six off Shakib to clinch a comfortable six-wicket victory in the end.

Earlier, Rangpur Riders raced to 149 for seven thanks to a blistering Shamim Hossain in the latter stage of the innings. Rangpur had a horrendous start with the bat losing early wickets after being asked to bat first.

Four of Rangpur's first five batters - Rony Talukder, Mahedi Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan and Nicholas Pooran - failed to reach the double-digit mark and that gave Barishal the upper hand in the Qualifier 2. 

James Neesham played a 28-run innings from 22 balls but James Fuller sent him back to the pavilion in the 10th over as the Riders were reduced to 48 for five at that point. Mohammad Nabi and skipper Nurul Hasan departed soon after and even 100 seemed far far away at that time. 

Sohan was the seventh batter to be dismissed in the 15th over and left the Riders stunned at 77/5. It seemed all over for the Riders but little did they know a Shamim storm was yet to hit Barishal. 

The southpaw then took things into his own hand and went on to score the joint-fastest fifty in the ongoing tournament in 20 balls. He eventually remained unbeaten on 59 from 24 balls. 

He built a 72-run partnership for the eighth with Abu Hider in the final 5.1 overs.

Coming in to bat at eight, Shamim hit five boundaries and five maximums. His three sixes in the 19th over changed the momentum in Rangpur's favour. But what caught everyone's eyes was the reverse-sweep six in the first delivery of that over.

Shamim was having a terrible Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) prior to Qualifier 2 on Wednesday, so much that he had only scored 130 runs in the previous 10 innings that he batted in the tournament. 

Barishal will face Comilla Victorians in the all important final on Friday.