Victorious Victorians: Kapali holds nerve in Comilla’s last-gasp win

Barisal Bulls defeated by three wickets in nail-biting BPL final

In a dramatic ending befitting a final, man of the match Alok Kapali scored an unbeaten 39 runs off 28 balls to steer Comilla Victorians to the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League title, defeating Barisal Bulls by three wickets at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Barisal, who were asked to bat, lost Mehedi Maruf in the third over after he was caught leg before by Pakistani all-rounder Ashar Zaidi. Thereafter, Seekkuge Prasanna and Sabbir Rahman added 35 runs more before the former was dismissed in the eighth over, leaving the team at 54-2.

Comilla skipper Mashrafe Mortaza then dismissed Rahman in the 11th over to pile pressure on Barisal.



It was then that Shahriar Nafees (44) and skipper Mahmudullah (48) anchored the innings and formed an 81-run partnership to guide the team to 149-4. The skipper was bowled by Nuwan Kulasekara on the fourth ball of the last over, while West Indian Kevon Cooper smashed a six in his two-ball seven runs to set a defendable target of 157.

Zaidi, Kulasekara, Darren Stevens and Mortaza claimed one wicket each for Comilla.

In reply, Comilla opener Imrul Kayes smashed three sixes and six boundaries in his 37-ball 53-run innings to give his side a strong start and built a 92-run stand with Liton Das (three), Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad (30) and Kapali before being dismissed by Mahmudullah in the 12th over.



Zaidi then added 16 runs from 14 balls before being run out in the 16th over with the team requiring an additional 41 runs to win.

Comilla were 145-7 in the last over when Shuvugata Hom was run out, requiring another 11 runs off four balls, when Kapali smashed two boundaries off the next two balls and took a double in the next to level the scores. And with one run required off the last ball, Kapali held his nerve to take a single and guide his team to a three-wicket win.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th,  2015.

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