Scintillating Shakib powers Fortune Barishal to victory

How the match played out
Shakib Al Hasan continued his scintillating form to power Fortune Barishal to a 14-run win against Chattogram Challengers. He became only the third player to score a half-century and take three wickets in a BPL match as his side went clear on top with their fourth win in six matches.

But the match would be remembered for two batting collapses, Chattogram's being too defining as they slipped from 70 for 1 to 96 for 7 in the space of 33 balls. Mehidy Hasan Miraz's late 26 off 13 balls wasn't enough and Chattogram were bowled out for 135 runs in the final over.

Apart from Shakib's three, Mujeeb Ur Rahman had figures of 3 for 9 while Dwayne Bravo and Mehedi Hasan Rana took two wickets each.

Earlier, Chattogram had fought back when Barishal batted, when Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, as the fifth-change bowler, took 4 for 12 in his two overs. Barishal lost their last seven wickets in 25 balls, but before that they had added 130, which held them in good stead even though they were bowled out for 149 runs in 19.1 overs.

Big hit
Mrittunjoy removed Shakib, who made 50 off 31 balls with three sixes and as many fours, before taking the wickets of Nurul Hasan, Irfan Sukkur and Mujeeb in the 19th over.

During the chase, Chattogram had moved to 70 for 1 in the 11th over before Shakib removed Afif Hossain for 39. In his next over, he dismissed Naeem Islam and, later, Chadwick Walton.

Mujeeb, who had taken the crucial wicket of Will Jacks in the first over, took out Benny Howell and BPL debutant Akbar Ali in consecutive balls in the 14th of the innings.

Big miss
Chris Gayle got off to a quick start but ultimately fell for 25 off 19 balls. He has now gone 27 innings without a T20 half-century, the last one coming during the West Indies-Australia T20I series last year.

Another moment that stuck out was Najmul Hossain Shanto's dismissal in the 11th over of Barishal's innings. Upon reviewing via the ADRS (Alternative DRS), TV umpire Morshed Ali Khan gave it caught-behind to which on-field umpire Masudur Rahman reacted with a nod of the head, showing his disapproval of the changed decision. It prompted reactions from Shakib and Shanto too: Shakib argued with the umpire, while Shanto slammed his bat onto his pad.