Delport, Mushfiqur set up 11-run win for Chittagong Vikings

Cameron Delport contributed with bat and ball, and on the field, to lead Chittagong Vikings to an important 11-run win over Dhaka Dynamites in Chattogram. He was ably aided by captain Mushfiqur Rahim with the bat and pacer Abu Jayed, who made inroads with the new ball and calmed any nerves with an excellent final over, conceding just six with 17 to defend.

Batting first after winning the toss, Vikings started well with Mohammad Shahzad and Delport till Sunil Narine came in and had Shahzad stumped off his second ball. The scoring rate dipped after that, Vikings reaching the halfway stage with just 68 on the board. But they did have wickets in hand - nine of them - and Delport had hit his stride.

An excellent third-wicket partnership between Delport and Mushfiqur turned the tide away from Dynamites. The two of them added 79 in just seven-and-a-half overs before Andre Russell turned the game around in the final over of the innings.

Not any of his first three deliveries of the final over were particularly threatening, but each of them got him a wicket for a hat-trick. Mushfiqur first miscued a full toss down Shuvagata Hom's throat at long-on, and Delport, next ball, sent Russell to the same fielder after not failing to get hold of one in the slot. It became three in three as Dasun Shanaka attempted a scoop but only sent it as far as Mizanur Rahman at short fine-leg.

At various points of their chase, Dynamites looked likely to pull it off.

When Shakib Al Hasan and Nurul Hasan were together for the fourth wicket, for example, and had added 50 runs before Delport sent Nurul back lbw. To make matters worse for Dynamites, Kieron Pollard ran himself out next ball, leaving Dhaka 73 for 5.

But Russell joined Shakib for a quick 66-run stand after that, with Russell hitting 39 in just 23 balls. He was caught by Delport off Shanaka, but Shakib carried on, and brought the equation down to 21 from ten balls before holing out off a Shanaka slower delivery after scoring 53 in 42 balls.

That left the remaining Dhaka batsmen with too much to do, and they fell short in the end.

Turning points

• Mushfiqur was the man Delport needed at the other end when the game was nicely balanced - Vikings 107 for 2 after 14 overs. Mushfiqur took off with a six over fine leg to a Rubel Hossain bouncer, and the scoring picked up in a big way after that, despite a quiet over from Narine and Russell's hat-trick towards the end.

He scored at a strike rate of 124.56, but Delport's innings was outstanding in the context of the game, as he batted from the start till the second ball of the final over, scoring 71 off 57 balls and never quite letting the Dynamites bowlers gain the upper hand. He was clinical with his slower variations too, getting rid of the dangerous-looking Nurul and conceding just 31 runs in his four overs, the second-most economical among the Vikings bowlers.

Pollard, first ball, tapped Delport to cover and went for the run. Shakib, from the other end, hollered "no, no, no", but Pollard paid no heed, completed his half of the run, and continued his jog to the dugout. At that stage, Pollard might have been able to make a difference.

Vikings stayed at third place on the table, now level on points with Comilla Victorians, though after playing one extra match and with an inferior net run rate. The loss wasn't ideal for Dynamites, who are in fourth place, with ten points from ten games.