Mahedi shines in again in Dhaka’s victory
Photo - BCB , Roton Gomes
|| CF Correspondent ||
Mahedi Hasan proved that his sterling 29 ball-59 against Cumilla Warriors less than 24 hours ago was no fluke at all, as he came up with yet another blistering performance to script Dhaka Platoon’s facile eight-wicket win over Sylhet Thunder in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Tuesday.
Mahedi’s promotion up in the order was as part of a gamble which paid high dividends against Cumilla Warriors but little did the fans know that another storm was on the cards when he came to bat at No. 3 position yet again.
With Tamim Iqbal playing confidently, Mahedi unleashed some powerful shots from his repertoire to make it one-way traffic as Dhaka Platoon overhauled Sylht’s 174-4 with nine balls to spare, which handed them their fourth victory in six games.
Tamim Iqbal was the highest score for Dhaka Platoon, scoring 60 off 49, studded with five fours and two sixes.
Mahedi and Tamim combined for an 87-run partnership for the second wicket in which the former dominated to put a shed on his senior colleague. Their partnership came after a strong base, laid by Tamim and Anamul Haque Bijoy as they shared 58-run for the opening stand.
Anamul sent the ball across the rope five four times to score 32 off 23.
However, Mahedi’s blitz in second-wicket partnership with Tamim ensured that it would be another cake-walk for Dhaka.
Before pace bowler Ebadat Hossain rattled his stump, Mahedi smashed five fours and three sixes in his 56 off 26.
Tamim and Jaker Ali, who struck consecutive boundaries to ensure the victory and remained not out on 22 off 11, sailed the side home without further fuss.
West Indies recruit Johnson Charles hammered a blistering 73 runs from 45 balls to help Sylhet Thunder post a respectable total.
Charles survived at the early of his innings but when he got his eye in, he made the Dhaka bowlers disarray to ensure Sylhet would end on a high.
However their score could have been even bigger had the centurion of previous match Andre Fletcher could get going. But Mahedi struck in the first ball in the first over of the innings to get rid of Fletcher for naught.
Charles who struck 38 ball-90 in the previous match, went in the same vein and struck three fours and eight towering sixes in his 73 off 45.
Mohammad Mithun gave him apt support, scoring an unbeaten 49 off 31, an innings studded with one four and four maximums.
After the departure of Charles, Mithun and Rutherford shared a valuable 65 runs partnership off 45 balls to push Sylhet score past 170 runs. Rutherford blasted an unbeaten 38 off 28 with three fours and two sixes.
Apart from these three batsmen, no one could reach the double-digit figure.
Shahid Afridi was the pick of the Dhaka bowler with 2-26 in his four overs while Mahedi and Shadab Khan took one wicket apiece.
