Malik cameo seals Comilla victory

Comilla Victorians paced their chase of 137 expertly to take their fifth win of the tournament, beating Chittagong Vikings by five wickets. Chittagong's bowlers, led by Mohammad Amir, bowled with discipline early in the chase but Ahmed Shehzad and Shoaib Malik launched a late surge to take their side home.

With Chittagong and Comilla being traditional rivals, the game had an electric atmosphere and there was much drama when Tillakaratne Dilshan bumped into Imrul Kayes, in the second over of the chase, in a bid to run the opener out. Dilshan failed to throw the stumps down at the striker's end as Kayes and Shehzad went for a single. While trying to collect the throw from the deep, Dilshan, however, tripped Kayes who fell in a heap. The stumps were broken at the non-striker's end but Kayes protested for obstruction. Chittagong captain Tamim Iqbal then stepped in and calmed the batsman down before the on-field umpires Mahfuzur Rahman and Morshed Ali Khan referred it to the third umpire Anisur Rahman who awarded five penalty runs to Comilla according to Law 42 (5), after watching several replays.

The incident came after Liton Das was dismissed by Taskin Ahmed for three. Kayes and Shehzad then worked their way past the drama, adding 52 for the second wicket. Coincidentally, Imrul Kayes was dismissed by Tillakaratne Dilshan, in the tenth over. Four overs later, Shehzad found a higher gear when he smashed Taskin for three successive fours. However, he fell in the next over for 37 when he miscued one off Bilawal Bhatti to long-off.

Amir, who was brought back to bowl the seventeenth over with 31 needed, took the wickets of Ashar Zaidi and Shuvagata Hom in a space of four balls. Bilawal Bhatti did a decent job, giving away eight off the next over, leaving Comilla needing 16 off the last two overs. Malik, though, tilted the contest in his side's favor when he forced Amir past point in the penultimate over. Tasked with the job of bowling the final over, Bhatti wilted under pressure: his first ball ending up as a beamer. Malik picked up two off the next ball before sealing the game with a six over midwicket with two balls to spare. He finished unbeaten on 34 off 32 balls, including two fours and a six.

Earlier in the day, Chittagong began brightly with Dilshan and Tamim Iqbal producing their fourth fifty-plus stand in the tournament. Tamim got into his groove in the fourth over, striking Abu Haider for a six and a four after having jumped off his feet to adjust to the length. He followed it with a couple of leg-side fours before holing out to long-off for 27 off Shuvagata.

Anamul Haque (0) was soon run out by Mashrafe Mortaza, who captained Comilla, but did not bowl because of an injured hamstring. Zaidi then nailed Dilshan with an excellent angled delivery as Chittagong slipped to 78 for 3.

Umar Akmal, who had made only one in the previous game, however, took charge and went after the bowlers. He hit four fours and two sixes during his 34-ball 49, the highlight being a slow-swept six over midwicket. But Nuwan Kulasekara bowled an accurate last over, giving away only four runs, as Chittagong were kept to 136.