Bowlers and Hodge lead Barisal to win

Barisal Burners 117 for 3 (Hodge 70*, Sabbir 25*) beat Dhaka Gladiators 114 all out (Dilshan 32, Mahmood 3-7) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Barisal Burners remained in the hunt for a final four finish after they secured an upset over Dhaka Gladiators. The seven-wicket win was only their fourth win in the competition, and it stopped the Gladiators' three-match winning run.

Alauddin Babu picked up three wickets in his first BPL match while Azhar Mahmood continued to be the team's most consistent player with three more. It helped the Burners bowl the Gladiators out for just 114 runs in 19.2 overs.

It was a poor start from the form team that made all the difference. Mohammad Ashraful, who scored a hundred on Monday, and Tillekaratne Dilshan added 49 for the first wicket but the two aggressive batsmen went against their natural instincts. Their partnership took nearly 10 overs and by the time Dilshan fell, the Gladiators were struggling. It got worse when Shakib Al Hasan fell quickly and two overs later Ashraful's run-out was another crucial moment.

Anamul Haque and Darren Stevens made double figures but the rest folded quickly as Alauddin and Mahmood took control.

The Burners reply began at a good rate but they lost three quick wickets. Brad Hodge and Sabbir Rahman then took charge, Hodge in particular as he made an unbeaten 70 off 44 balls with eight fours and three sixes.

Their unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 68 runs finished off the match with more than six overs to spare and gave the Burners a very realistic chance of qualification as they still have two matches in hand.