Comilla Victorians won BPL 2019

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal came up with one of the most eye-catching T20 innings in the Final of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2019. Tamim heroics with the bat in Dhaka helped Comilla Victorians beat three time champions Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs and win their second title.

Tamim had been struggling for form in the lead up to the final but he stepped up on the big night and broke an array of records as he took the Dhaka Dynamites attack to the cleaners. Tamim hit an unbeaten 141 from just 61 balls, his first century in the BPL that had 11 sixes and 10 boundaries. Tamim 141 was the second highest score in a T20 tournament final and it helped the Imrul Kayes-led Comilla Victorians post 199. He also became the first Bangladesh batsman to hit more than 10 sixes in a T20 match.

Even as his much-fancied teammates were struggling to put bat to ball on a tricky Mirpur wicket, Tamim was hitting the big ones at will. Tamim showed little respect to the likes of Andre Russel, Shakib Al Hasan and Rubel Hossain as he scored heavily against the big boys of Dhaka Dynamites. Dhaka Dynamites looked like they would render Tamim special knock in vain when Upul Tharanga and Rony Talukdar took on the Victorians' bowling attack after Sunil Narine was run out in the very first ball of their 200-run chase.

Tharanga and Talukdar stitched a 102-run stand in just 8.4 overs before Thisara Perera got the wicket of his Sri Lankan teammate with a slower ball. Once the big partnership was broken, the Dynamites imploded as the likes of Shakib, Andre Russel, and Kieron Pollard were dismissed cheaply. Talukdar looked to keep the Dynamites in the hunt but he was run out (for 66 off 38 balls) after a mix-up with Pollard in the middle.

The Dynamites felt the pressure of chasing a big total in the final as their seasoned campaigners, including the likes of Shakib, Pollard and Russell, were unable to get going. Wahab Riaz shone for the champions with figures of 3/28 while Mohammad Saifuddin and Thisara Perera picked up two wickets each. There were a couple of costly run outs that brought the downfall of the Dynamites.

2015 Bangladesh Premier League

Alok Kapali played a spectacular innings of 39 not out to give Comilla Victorians the BPL title off the last ball of the final. The Valiant Barisal Bulls were beaten by three wickets in the end, but it could so easily have been their trophy heading into the final overs of the match.

But it was Kapali, who made 39 off 28 balls with five fours, four of those off the last eight balls of the game. He struck two fours in the last two over, and ran the winning run off the last ball in front of a packed Shree Bangla National Stadium. Imrul Kayes 53 had earlier set Comilla up but the chase was almost derailed when their key player Ashar Zaidi was run out at a crucial stage.

Zaidi, Comilla best player in the tournament, was run out for 16 off 14 balls. His dismissal illustrated Barisal impressive fielding throughout this BPL, as Mahmudullah brilliant pick up and throw was well taken by the bowler Cooper who broke the stumps in time. Before that Mahmudullah and Nafees aggressiveness with the bat had earlier propelled Barisal to 156 for 4 after they were put in to bat. The pair added 81 runs for the fourth wicket.

Alok Kapali was awarded as Man of the match in Final and Ashar Zaidi was awarded as Man of the tournament. He scored 215 runs in 11 matches and took 17 wickets. After this third season of BPL, Mashrafe Mortaza became the only Bangladesh captain to pick up all three titles.