Sylhet look to stop Comilla juggernaut to make BPL final

Sylhet Strikers need to do something special to stop the juggernaut of Comilla Victorians in a bid to make the final of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in first attempt.

Comilla, who are now on a nine-match winning streak, will take on Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's Sylhet Strikers in the first Qualifier tomorrow (Sunday) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. 

The winner of the game will move to the final straightway while the loser will get another chance to make it final as they will take on the winner of the Eliminator game between Rangpur Riders and Fortune Barishal.

Comilla, the defending champions of BPL, lost the first three matches in a row including a defeat to Sylhet Strikers. They were written off after those three straight defeats. But they refused to give up and turned things so magically that they thereafter won nine matches in a row, which is comfortably the biggest winning streak by any team in BPL history.

Sylhet, who were probably the fourth strongest team on paper before the tournament, emerged as the most consistent side and came to the playoffs as the group leader with 18 points from 12 matches. Such was Comilla's impact that they also ended with the same 18 points but had to finish in second position due to run rate. The difference of run rate was still very marginal-Sylhet had 0.737 and Comilla had 0.723. 

Given the form, Comilla look outright favourite, going into the first Qualifier. But there is a fear that the law of average can come into the fore. No matter how big the winning streak is, it is bound to break at some point. Comilla will hope to continue the streak for at least two matches. 

"They proved how strong of a team they are! They won nine matches in a row, so it will be very tough to beat them. We have to play our best," said Sylhet coach Rajin Saleh.

Comilla moreover recruited England's Moeen Ali to further bolster the team. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine had already played two matches for them as they had to leave match winners like Mohammad Rizwan and Khushdil Shah.

While Comilla looked strong going by the form, Sylhet knows they are the only who can stop Comilla's winning streak. Relying on the local youngsters like Towhid Hridoy, Zakir Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja they did wonders. Also the shrewd captaincy of Mashrafe played a key role in reviving the side.