The much-awaited Bangladesh Premier League has started. In the opening match, Chittagong Challengers and Sylhet Strikers faced each other in the second match of the day after a great fight against the Comilla Victorians vs the excellent Dhaka. The fans witnessed several dramas in this match Batting at the beginning, Chittagong Challengers chased the target of 177 runs given by Sylhet. The two batsmen Shahadat Hossain Dipu and Najibullah Zadran are responsible for the victory of Chittagong!
Chittagong captain Shubhagat Home won the toss and decided to bowl at the beginning of the match between Chittagong Challengers vs Sylhet Strikers. He decides that it is easy to get the victory by chasing on the main ground of Mirpur. In this match, Chittagong's XI included Tanjid Hasan Tamim, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, and Shubhagat Home as domestic players, as well as Sri Lankan Afiska Fernando, Najibullah Zadran, Campher, and Bilal Khan in the XI as foreign players.
On the other hand, Nazmul Hasan Shanto, Mashrafe Mortaza, Zakir Hasan, Tanjim Hasan Saki, and many others were in the XI for Sylhet as native players. Australia's Ben Cutting, Zimbabwe's Nagrava, Ireland's Harry Tector, and Benny Howell were included in the team's playing XI as foreign recruits. Sylhet Strikers led by Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is a balanced team with a mix of local and foreign players. The team played the final with these players in the last Bangladesh Premier League season.
Md. Mithun and Nazmul Hasan Shanto came to bat for Sylhet Strikers at the invitation of Chattogram Challengers. These two openers gave Sylhet a good start. The pair averaged a valuable 67 runs in the opening. This pair was broken when Nazmul Hasan retired quietly with a personal 36 runs. However, at the other end, if Mohammad Mithun scored 40 runs from 28 balls, the Sylhet striker was in a strong position after the first stay. Later, Mithun got out and made his way to the pavilion, but Zakir Hasan and Harry Tector gave Sylhet a good collection. Sylhet Strikers set a target of 178 runs to Chittagong Challengers with Zakir Hasan's 43-ball 70-run innings.
Chittagong Challengers did not get off to a good start when they came down to bat. Opener Tanjid Tamim departed with just 2 runs off 5 balls. As a result, the Port team was under pressure at the beginning. However, Aviska Fernando, the foreign star of the team, took the team forward by handling that pressure. But after losing two consecutive wickets at 57 and 59 runs, Chittagong Challengers were under pressure again.
After losing three wickets for 57 runs, there was a time when it seemed that it would be difficult for Chittagong Challengers to win this match. But no; Chittagong Challengers won by scoring 107 runs in the last 10 overs due to the incredible batting performance of Shahadat Hossain Dipu and Najibullah Zadran. Shahadat Hossain Dipu scored 57 off 39 balls and Najibullah Zadran remained unbeaten on 61 off 30 balls. As a result, Chittagong won the match by seven wickets. Such a win in the first match will undoubtedly strengthen Chittagong Challengers' morale!