Tamim-Thisara fire Dhaka to 180-7

Soumya Sarkar must be mad at himself right now. He got the opportunity to take the catch of Tamim Iqbal when the batsman was only on four but failed to grab the difficult catch. Dawid Malan must be upset as well, because even after catching Tamim on 43, Malan stepped on the boundary rope to see the chance go begging. Tamim made them pay, as the experienced opener, in the end, scored 74 which helped his side Dhaka Platoon massively to reach a commendable total of 180-7. 

Thisara Perera though, was brutal and was the real initiator of Dhaka's acceleration which took them to the big total. Thisara was unbeaten on 42, only off 17 deliveries.

Cumilla Warriors skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and invited Dhaka Platoon to bat first. His decision looked to be on target as Mujeeb-ur-Rahman trapped Anamul Haque LBW in the very first delivery of the match. 

Dhaka pulled a rabbit out of their hat as they sent Mahedi Hasan at No.3, a batsman who generally bats down the order. But he did not last long as he gave Al-Amin Hossain an easy catch off Abu Hider Rony to get out on 12. 

Tamim Iqbal initially struggled and gave chances but with time he looked in the mood as he settled in and continued to take Dhaka forward with Laurie Evans. Tamim was initially dropped on only four by Soumya. Tamim provided with another opportunity when he was on 43 and Dawid Malan grabbed it, but Malan stepped on the boundary rope to gift six runs to the left-handed batsman. With a couple of lives, Tamim reached his fifty off 40 deliveries and right after his fifty, the 30-year old batsman started accelerating. 

Laurie Evans looked to increase his strike rate too, but in that process gave Rony a catch at the boundary who grabbed it after an initial juggle. 

But as soon as Thisara Perera stepped on to the pitch, Dhaka's run rate started to soar. Thisara unleashed himself on Abu Hider as the Sri Lankan power-hitter took 23 runs in the 16th over, including a six and four fours. 

Tamim wreaked havoc on Shanaka in the next over as he hit him for a four and a six, but It was Shanaka who had the last laugh as he sent Tamim back for 74 off 53 deliveries, in the process destructive partnership of 48 runs off 15 deliveries. 

Shahid Afridi broke his duck with a four off Soumya Sarkar but returned in the very next delivery as he was caught at the boundary trying to clear it. 

Soumya struck again in the same over as Wahab Riaz tried to hoick the ball out of the park, only managing to skew it straight up and wicketkeeper Mahidul Islam took a simple catch to send back Wahab Riaz for a golden duck. 

The wickets wrecked Dhaka's momentum but a few hits from Thisara and skipper Mashrafe, who was dismissed trying to take a double on the last ball of the innings, ensured that Dhaka reached 180-7. Thisara stayed unbeaten on 42, coming from only 17 deliveries.

Soumya and Shanaka both took two wickets each with Abu Hider and Mujeeb picking up one each.