Comilla down high-flying Dhaka

Pakistani player Hasan Ali’s career-best 5-20 and an unbeaten 54 of his compatriot Shoaib Malik catapulted Comilla Victorians to their fifth straight victory in the Bangladesh Premier League as they defeated giants Dhaka Dynamites by four wickets in a thrilling encounter in Dhaka on Monday.
Set a simple target, Comilla needed nine runs in the last over to go to the top of the points table and Malik smashed pacer Saddam Hossain for two boundaries in the first three deliveries to help the side race to 129-6 in 19.3 overs to complete the victory against star-studded Dhaka.
Dhaka, the only side to get 200-plus total twice in the tournament, earlier lost their last eight wickets for 24 runs to be bowled out for 128 in 18.3 over in the face of some accurate bowling from Pakistan’s new pace sensation Ali. 
His Pakistani team-mate Mohammad Amir offered Dhaka a glimmer of hope in the seventeenth over of Comilla innings picking up Jos Butler (11) and Mohammad Saifuddin (4) in between three balls but they were not enough to prevent the side’s first loss in six matches. 
Malik remained unbeaten on 54 runs off 53 deliveries with four fours and a six while Imrul Kayes and skipper Tamim Iqbal contributed 20 and 18 runs respectively in the low-run chase.
Comilla skipper Tamim praised Malik and Ali for their outstanding performances but he hoped more mature performances from their batsmen in chase of low totals. 
‘We were hoping to get the same sort of performances from Malik. It was not necessary to win Twenty20 matches by hitting fours and sixes. He is our asset to the team as well as Hasan Ali who picked up five wickets and he bowled them out. He had a plan and bowled very simply. But I think we should have been smarter in our batting,’ Tamim told reporters after the match.
Amir and Sunil Narine picked up two wickets each while the latter also scored highest 76 off 45 for Dhaka. His batting as a makeshift opener was overshadowed by Ali’s bowling heroics that started in the second over of the game. 
Ali bowled Evin Lewis and Mehedi Maruf in the first balls before Narine and Kumar Sangakkara added 92 runs in the third wicket to bring Dhaka back into the game. 
Once Sangakkara, who was playing the role of an anchor, was run out for 28 off 30 balls Dhaka caved in as all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin (2-29) and Rashid Khan (1-17) joined Ali in demolition act. 
The win gave Comilla 10 points from six matches to put them ahead of Dhaka at the top of the table. 

Brief Scores
Dhaka Dynamites 128 in 18.3 overs (Narine 76, Sangakkara 28; Hasan Ali 5-20, Saifuddin 2-29) v Comilla Victorians 129-6 in 19.4 overs (Malik 54 not out, Narine 2-17, Amir 2-28) 
Result: Comilla Victorians won by 4 wickets.
Man of the match: Hasan Ali (Comilla Victorians)

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net