Malik, Miraz seal thrilling win for Barishal over table-toppers Khulna

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoaib Malik's late hitting helped Fortune Barishal notch up a thrilling win over table-toppers Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet on Saturday. 

It was Khulna's first loss in the tournament. On the other hand, the five-wicket victory was Barishal's third in six matches.

It was Khulna's match to lose for the most part of the second innings of the match but Dasun Shanaka failed to defend 17 in the final over. 

Bowling all-rounder Miraz hit three sixes in his match-turning cameo of 31* off 15 and one of them came in the first ball of the 20th over, putting pressure on Shanaka.

Malik, who controversially left the BPL midway after the Dhaka phase, returned with a bang. He finished things off in style with a four and a six off Shanaka and the match was over with two balls to spare.

Malik had earlier claimed two wickets and hence was named the player of the match. 

Barishal reaching the target looked unlikely at one point when the required run rate crossed 15 per over. But Miraz's big-hitting kept them well in the game and Malik (41* off 25) put the finishing touch. 

For Barishal, captain Tamim Iqbal (20 off 18), Soumya Sarkar (26 off 23) and Mushfiqur Rahim (27 off 25) got starts but none of them could really accelerate. 

Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf returned to the side after a two-match hiatus and delivered a superb performance both with bat and ball. He replaced the injured opener Evin Lewis in the XI.

Batting first, Khulna went less than a run-a-ball for the most part of their innings and when Ashraf came out to bat at number nine, they were struggling at 88 for seven in the 16th over.

Mohammad Nawaz and Ashraf then smashed the ball around the park and added a quick 67 off just four overs to propel Khulna to 155-8 in their 20 overs.

Left-handed Nawaz, who has been in excellent form, hit four sixes on his way to 38* off 23. 

Ashraf, the more aggressive of the two, struck five fours and a six before getting run out on 32 off just 13. 

With the ball, he picked up three wickets but the performance was not enough in the end.