Comilla edge past Sylhet in a low-scoring encounter

Star studded Comilla Victorians barely edged past Sylhet Sunrisers in a low-scoring encounter, winning by two wickets while chasing 97 runs in both sides opening match in the Bangladesh Premier League on Saturday.
The Sylhet bowlers forced Comilla to bat till 18.4 overs to chase the puny target on an exceedingly slow track at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
For Comilla, Karim Janat scored the highest 18 off 13 balls while Nahidul Islam and Cameron Delport chipped in with 16 each but a lack of determination from the batters to see off the game themselves nearly cost them the match.
Nazmul Islam Apu took three wickets while Mosaddek Hossain, Sohag Gazi two and Taskin Ahmed bagged one wicket each.
Earlier, the Comilla bowlers ran rampant and bundled out Sylhet for a sorry 96 runs in 19.1 overs.
Mustafizur Rahman, Nahidul Islam and Shohidul Islam claimed two wickets each on a pitch that offered movement for pacers and turn for the spinners.
For Sylhet, Collin Ingram top-scored with 20 off 21 balls while Ravi Bopara and Sohag chipped in with 17 off 19 balls and 12 off 19 balls respectively.
Chasing mere 97 runs, Comilla lost their top five batters for 55 in 10.2 overs.
In the sixth wicket stand, Nahidul and Karim added 27 runs that got them closer to the target.
But Karim fell to Taskin and Ingram caught Nahidul at point off Nazmul in the following over, reducing Comilla to 84-7 in 14.2 overs.
Nazmul then dismissed Shohidul Islam for one in the 17th over and Mosaddek Hossain gave away only two runs in the next over, leaving Comilla six runs to chase in 12 balls with two wickets in hand.
But Kesrick Williams couldn’t sustain that pressure in the 19th over, allowing Tanvir and Mahidul Islam to take a couple of singles each in the first four balls and then bowling two consecutive wides, which sent Comilla over the line with eight balls in hand.
Mahidul and Tanvir remained unbeaten on nine and three respectively.