Khulna Tigers failed to reach the end of BPL. Their innings ended with a few runs against Mashrafe bin Mortza’s Sylhet. Instead of challenging Sylhet with the failure of the batsmen from the start, they had to see the reverse side of the coin. They have only managed to give Sylhet a target of 114 runs at the top of the table.

Sylhet Strikers and Khulna Tigers met at Mirpur Sher-e Bangla Stadium on Wednesday (February 8). Khulna won the toss and decided to bat first. The team scored 113 runs after losing 8 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs.

Despite winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Khulna could not act accordingly. Their opening pair broke in just 8 runs. Opener Munim Shahriar departed after scoring 3 runs from 6 balls in 1.5 overs off Imad Wasim. Khulna captain Shai Hope could not do the work. He was dismissed by Tanzim Hasan Shakib for 9 runs from 9 balls. Opener Andrew Balbirnie was dismissed by Rubel Hossain without adding any runs after Hope departed for Dali’s 21 runs. He returned with a catch in the hands of Tanjim with only 9 runs from 13 balls.

Khulna was under pressure after losing 3 wickets for just 21 runs. Yasir Ali also failed to take the lead for the team on this day. He scored only 12 runs from 15 balls. On the other hand, Mahmudul Hasan Joy tried to fight alone for the team. He scored 41 runs from 41 balls. With these 41 runs of victory and Nahidul Islam’s 17-ball 22 runs at the end, Khulna’s collection stood at 113 runs for 8 wickets.

A total of three Khulna batsmen managed to reach double-digit runs on the day of failure. Besides, the rest were out from under 7 runs. Tanjim Hasan Shakib took a maximum of 3 wickets for Sylhet.

Yasir Tamim’s Khulna Tigers were the first team to be eliminated from this year’s BPL season. They have been eliminated from the tournament after losing by 37 runs against Fortune Barisal.

The top four teams in the points table will go to the knockouts. Sylhet Strikers are now at the top with 16 points. Barisal in second place has 14 points. Comilla is third with 12 points, Rangpur Riders are fourth with 10 points. That is, even if Khulna wins the remaining two matches, they will not be able to overtake Rangpur. Khulna set a target of 195 runs against Barisal in a life-or-death match at Mirpur Sher Bangla National Stadium on Friday (February 3). Chasing the target, they scored 157 runs after losing 8 wickets at the end of the scheduled over. Tamim Iqbal was a shadow in the critical match of Khulna. He was a victim of Wasim with only 1 run from 3 balls. Another opener Andrew Balbarney scored 12 runs. Then Shai Hope, who played a big inning in the previous match, took the lead. Hope, who scored 91 runs against Comilla, scored 37 runs off 24 balls that day. Then it was Yasir Ali who tried to win. Nahidul Islam accompanied him for some time. But it was not enough to win. Nahidul scored 24 runs. Yasir scored 60 runs off 38 balls after being dismissed by Karim Bhangir. With that, Khulna’s dream of this year’s BPL season ended.

Earlier, Barisal scored 194 runs with the bat of Iftikhar-Shaqib and Fazle Mahmud. They scored 32 runs in the opening pair. At this time, Enamul Haque returned with a catch in the hands of Shafiqul from Von Meekeren. Fazle Mahmood scored 39 runs off 29 balls. Ibrahim Zadran was out for 23 runs. After that, Shakib and Iftikhar Ahmed formed a long pair. Barisal scored 52 runs in Shakib-Iftikhar.
The second man played somewhat defensively at the start but Shakib was aggressive. After scoring 36 off 21 balls, he was dismissed by Meekeren. The country’s best all-rounder had 4 sixes and a four in his innings.

After Shakib got out, Iftikhar stormed. The world’s best all-rounder scored 16 runs in the over. Karim Janat provided excellent support to the Pakistani batsmen. He increased the tension of the match by hitting three consecutive boundaries in the 19th over by Shafiqul Islam. At the other end, Iftikhar completed his half-century in 30 balls and finally scored 51 runs. Karim Janat made 16 out of 200 strike rates. Meekeren took 3 wickets for Dhaka. Nahidul Islam and Hasan Murad got one wicket each.

Khulna Tigers are not going to win the ninth edition of BPL. Yasir Ali Rabbi, who lost the leadership, played great innings. But that was not enough to make Khulna win. Even today they lost to Fortune Barisal by 37 runs. In this, Fortune Barisal has strengthened second place in the points table with 7 wins in 10 matches. On the other hand, Khulna remained at the bottom with only 2 wins in 10 matches.

Khulna Tigers were struggling from the beginning in the run chase. In the second over of the innings, Tamim Iqbal (1) was bowled by Mohammad Wasim. Another opener Andy Balbrain scored 12 runs before being caught by Khaled Ahmed. In the seventh over, Mahmudul Hasan Joy was bowled by Shakib Al Hasan for 48 runs. Khulna captain Shai Hope could have been stumped in that over, but wicketkeeper Enamul Haque broke the stumps without catching the victory ball! After that, However, Hope could not last long. Khaled Ahmed stopped his innings of 37 runs in 24 balls.

Former Khulna captain Yasir Ali was playing well today. Fifty took 35 balls. In the end, he fell victim to Karim Janat for 60 off 38 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes. Nahidul, another victim of this Afghan pacer, scored 24 off 24 balls. The gap between the run and the ball increased so much that 42 runs were needed in the last over! Naturally, it was not possible to match this figure. Two more wickets fell in that over bowled by Karim Jana. Khulna stopped at 157 runs for 8 wickets. Barisal won by 37 runs. Karim Janat took 4 wickets for 29 runs.

Earlier, Fortune Barisal scored 194 runs for 5 wickets after losing the toss in the first match of the match at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla on Friday. After a good start, they lost their first wicket for 32 runs. Enamul Haque Bijoy returned with 12 runs in 7 balls. The other opener Fazle Mahmud was batting well. At one time, it seemed like it would be fifty. However, Hasan Murad’s ball was caught by Shafiqul Islam while blowing the ball and his innings of 39 runs in 29 balls stopped. Ibrahim Zadran scored 23 runs in 23 balls.

Shakib was still in an explosive mood. Iftekhar became his companion. Shakib left as soon as the pair of two gathered. His innings of 36 runs off 21 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes ended with Mahmudul Hasan winning the ball of Van McLaren. Iftekhar picked up the fifty off 30 balls. He remained unbeaten on 51* off 31 balls with 3 fours and sixes. In the end, Karim Janat’s cameo of 16 runs off 8 balls played an effective role.

Tamira avenged the loss against Rangpur in the previous match on Tuesday. Chasing the target of 130 runs in their fourth match today, Khulna won by 9 wickets.

Batting first, Rangpur Riders lost the toss and were bowled out for 129 runs in 20 overs in front of Wahab Riaz and Amad Butt. Mehdi Hasan got the opportunity to score a maximum of 38 runs for the team. Parvez Hossain Emon scored 25 runs. Wahab Riaz took 4 wickets for just 14 runs in 4 overs for Pakistan. Amad Butt took 3 wickets for 16 runs in 3 overs.

Opener Munim Shahriar (21) came back to chase the target with 41 runs. After that, Tamim Iqbal brought the team to the port of victory by averaging 10 balls with an unbroken pair of 89 runs along with Mahmudul Hasan Joy. He played an impeccable inning of 60 runs off 47 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Mahmudul Hasan Joy scored 38 runs off 42 balls.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad also got the team in the first call.

All three are ‘A’ category cricketers. The base price of this category of cricketers is Tk 80 lakh. Sylhet Strikers have taken Mushfiqur Rahim in the team in their first chance. And Fortune Barisal has taken the experienced Mahmudullah. Besides, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan of Rangpur Riders. Chattogram Challengers took Mrityunjay Chowdhury on the team. Mohammad Mithun was picked by Dhaka Dominators, while Khulna Tigers took Mohammad Saifuddin.

Yasir Ali in Khulna, Nazmud Hossain Shanto in Sylhet, Mehedi Hasan Miraz in Barisal, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury in Chattogram, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat in Cumilla and Hasan Mahmud in Rangpur. Dhaka Dominators have taken soumya sarkar.

Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain got the team in the BPL Players Draft on Wednesday.

Khulna Tigers have picked Sabbir Rahman from the draft. So far, the team has taken Tamim Iqbal, Avishka Fernando, Wahab Riaz, Naseem Shah, and Azam Khan indirect contracts. Mohammad Saifuddin, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nasum Ahmed, Nahidul Islam, Munim Shahriar, and Sabbir Rahman have been selected from the draft.

On the other hand, Nasir Hossain has been picked up by Dhaka Dominators. So far, the team has taken Taskin Ahmed, Chamika Karunaratne, and Dilshan Munawara indirect contracts. Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Shariful Islam, Arafat Sunny, Nasir Hossain, and Al-Amin Hossain Sr. have been taken from the draft.