Comilla make it three in three and go top of the table with 52-run victory over Chattogram

Comilla Victorians completed a hattrick of wins as they claimed the top spot by dethroning Chattogram Challengers thanks to a massive 52-run win. Imrul Kayes-led Comilla now seem like a team to beat in the tournament with three big wins in all the three matches they've played so far, and of course, the massive run rate of 2.0999. 

Comilla didn't give Chattogram - who have been rocked by a captaincy row in the last 48 hours - a single chance to win or even fight in the game. It was that one-sided right from the word go. Batting first they put on a commanding 183 runs on the board losing only three wickets. 

Mahmudul Hasan Joy departed early for one, in the second over. And that was the only time Chattogram were ahead of Comilla in the game. Litton Kumar Das and Faf du Plessis then built a beautiful 80-run partnership in no time in only 56 deliveries. 

Litton, who was playing his first match in the ongoing BPL, scored a quickfire 47 off 34 balls. He struck five boundaries and an aesthetic maximum off Nasum Ahmed before departing. But it was Nasum again who bagged Litton's wicket in the 11th over and gave his team the much-needed breakthrough. 

Skipper Imrul Kayes then came on to bat and soon departed scoring only one off three balls. And that was it for the Chattogram bowlers in the game. Faf watched two of his partners departing from the other side but as soon as Cameron Delport arrived, they ruled the Chattogram bowlers together with some Protea fire in the middle. After a brief lull, du Plessis and Delport tore into the Chattogram attack, adding an unbroken 97 for the fourth wicket

Faf and Delport remained unbeaten in the end scoring 96 runs in the last 8 overs. Faf hit eight 4s and three 6s to eventually remain unbeaten on 83 off 55 deliveries at a strike rate of 150. He found most of his runs down the ground. All three of his sixes were hit over long-off, while seven of his eight fours came in the area between wide long-off and wide long-on. Delport on the other hand bagged a fifty at a strike rate of more than 220. He remained unbeaten on 51 off 23 balls. 

For Chattogram, spinner Nasum Ahmed was the only bowler to earn some respect from the Comilla batters. He picked up a brace for 23 runs from his 4 overs. Benny Howell picked up the other wicket. 

Chasing a mammoth 184 never seemed like Chattogram's cup of tea. Only Will Jacks defied Comilla with his half-century in the competition, but Chattogram had lost their first six wickets for 72 runs within the tenth over in reply to Comilla's 183 for 3. 

They started to attack from the very first delivery in the chase, looked clueless, and kept on losing wickets on a regular basis. Apart from Jacks' 69 off 42 balls, only Mrittunjoy Chowdhury and Mehidy Hasan Miraz reached the double-digit mark with the bat. Mrittunjoy was their second-highest scorer with 13 runs to his name.

Comilla's Nahidul Islam took three of the first four wickets to break Chattogram's top-order into pieces. Mustafizur Rahman, Tanvir Islam and Shohidul Islam came to the party with two wickets each.

Comilla skipper Imrul Kayes gave credit to the batters for this huge win in the post-match presentation.

"Our team has done really well. Faf, Delport, Liton. The batting was so good today," he said. 

"Nahidul Islam has always said yes whenever asked to bowl. I hope he can continue this for the entire tournament," Kayes credited Nahidul at the same time.

Faf du Plessis was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant batting. He was happy to be back in form and contribute to the team's win.

"First two games in Dhaka were tough, but it was important to make a contribution to the team. Very grateful I could score runs to help the team get over the line. He will be good for us going forward. We wanted to take it to the last five overs and maximize as much as we could," a happy Faf said.

Comilla have two back to back games in the coming days. They will face Minister Group Dhaka on Tuesday before going head to head with Chattogram Challengers again on Thursday.