|| CF DESK ||

Durdanto Dhaka beat Comilla Victorians by five wickets in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) opener at the Sher e Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS), Mirpur.

Chasing 144 runs, Dhaka openers Mohammad Naim and Danushka Gunathilaka made a commanding start registering a 101-run for the opening partnership.

Naim smashed a 40-ball 52 comprising three fours and an equal number of sixes and Gunathilaka scored 41 runs with four boundaries and a six. 

Dhaka lost two more wickets of Gunathilaka and Lasith Croospulle (5) in a space of three overs which plotted a swift turn in the game. 

Then Irfan Sukkur took charge of the game and scored crucial 24 runs and Chaturanga de Silva ended the game with a six in the last over operated by Mustafizur Rahman.

Earlier, Imrul Kayes and Towhid Hridoy's century-run stand steered Comilla Victorians to 143-6 runs. The duo added a 107-run partnership with Imrul scoring the highest 66 of 56 balls featuring six 4's and two maximums.

Towhid contributed 47 off 41 runs aided by a solitary boundary and a couple of sixes.

Comilla lost their captain Litton Das (13) during the first powerplay after being invited to bat first on the notorious wicket of Mirpur. Chaturanga de Silva got the wicket of Litton Das with a stunning catch by Mohammad Naim at the mid-off.

Despite the early blow, Comilla piled up runs toiling the bowlers until Taskin Ahmed gave the breakthrough by taking prized wickets of Towhid and Imrul in the 18th over.

Shoriful Islam was the pick of the bowling attack as he recorded the first BPL hat-trick of the season and Taskin scalped two for Dhaka.

Shoriful was wicket-less until in the final over when he claimed the hat-trick starting with Khusdil Shah (13), followed by Roston Chase and Mahidul Islam.