11/22/2023
Dark Horse Tournament report - BPL 2023
Dark Horses came into the 2023 BPL tournament with added pressure and expectations as defending champions. Last championship was based on some steller performances from big names like Habib (mvp of previous BPL), Saif, Xahid and Labib (MOM of finals).
Unfortunately, DH was unable to retain none of them and picked up a rather fresh-looking squad with promising young players in Zaheen, Manna, Khaled, Imran, Rabbani and Albhee. Added to the squad were also experienced Toufiq, Sakiul, Zashim, Mridul, Rumman, Ashraf and Tahmid along with Raiyan.
None of the previous champs had successfully defended a championship and at the auction, the DH had its work cut out to ensure that the team gelled and brought out the best in all.
Match 1:
Dark Horse vs Valley Tigers
VT: 163/4 in 20 overs(Ebra 48, Imran 31, Shagor 21, Toufiq 0/19, Khaled 1/27, Zaheen 1/17, Zashim 1/34, Albhee 1/33)
lost by 5 wickets to
DH 168/5 in 18 overs(Raiyan 64*, Zaheen 40, Manna 21, Toufiq 15, Shahriar 2/28)
Man of the Match: Raiyan
Going up against the big names of Ebra and few mysterious additions of players from Davis was team Valley Tigers. Owner Mohammad Zaman was very confident during the pre-tournament preps and was pumped up to face the relatively inexperienced Dark Horse squad.
However, Dark Horses were not deterred and came out fighting. As the toss happened, DH had no hesitation putting VT into bat.
VT started steadily with Imran and Shagor. DH bowling lineup had some issues early on as the extra pace and uneven pitch caused them to leak quite a few extra. The right left combo also added to the woes as VT put up a 63-run opening partnership and looked set for a big total with big names to follow.
However, the boys from DH kept to their task and adjusted quickly and despite not picking up many wickets kept the leashes on VT. Ebra and Imran had set a solid platform but despite that VT was restricted to a reasonable 163/4 in 20 overs. Zaheen, Zashim, Albhee and Khaled all picked up a wicket each. Toufiq even though didn't pick up a wicket was fantastic in his 4 overs giving up only 19 runs.
163 was a competitive score given that the pitch was tricky, and VT had solid bowling lineup to back it up.
Raiyan and Manna opened the batting and set about quickly as they picked up 26 in first two overs. However, VT started pulling the score back with Shagor bowling a maiden in the 3rd over and then Manna persihing to a ball that did him for lack of pace as he was bowled round his legs. DH was struck another blow as last year's big scoring Sakiul was run out cheaply and suddenly VT was on top as they continued to bowl a tight and disciplined line and length.
Zaheen joined Raiyan and set about counterattacking as he scored a quick 40 of 21 balls. At 100/2 in 11 overs DH looked pretty set but as Zaheen got out and DH had another hiccup with 2 more quick wickets and suddenly found themselves wobbling at 136/5.
Once the experienced Toufiq joined Raiyan, it got easier again as the two brought the chase to a close without further drama by the 18th over. Raiyan remained not out at 64 and Toufiq score 15 off 11 balls.
Match 2:
Dark Horse vs Mission Peak
DH: 208/4 in 20 overs(Zaheen 106, Manna 37, Toufiq 17, Imran 16, Raiyan 15, Anirban 2/37)
Beat MP by 9 runs
MP: 199/8 in 20 overs( Julhas 42, Hasan I 39, Ankur 26, Nazir 25, Rabbani 2/5, Khaled 2/32, Rumman 1/20, Albhee 1/23, Toufiq 1/34)
Man of the Match: Zaheen
Dark Horses came up against arguably the best side of the tournament in Mission Peak. The line up of Mission Peak is loaded with big name stars like Nazir, Saif, Julhas, Hasan I and Razab along with regular tape players Ankur, Fazlu and Noor.
With a fearsome batting lineup and depth in bowling lineup DH knew they had to be at their best to beat MP.
MP won the toss and put DH into bat on a wet pitch. Raiyan and Manna started off quickly despite the wet pitch and put on 32 in 4 overs. MP struck back with the wicket of Raiyan as he chopped on a ball that stayed low outside off. This didn't slow the momentum as Zaheen came in and kept attacking as Manna held the other side down and provided the ideal foil to ensure the DH was on course to a big score. When Manna got out for 37 the score was reading 162 in 16 overs. Zaheen went onto score a massive 106 off 49 balls. Closing push came from Imran and Toufiq as DH posted an imposing 208/4 in 20 overs. Anirban picked up two wickets for 37 runs.
MP came onto bat and kept scoring steadily near at required run rate. Dark Horse did a fair job of picking up wickets but with the depth of Mission Peak, it meant they could continue to attack and put DH under pressure and was never out of the game. Julhas paced a solid 42 and Nazir scored a quickfire 25 to keep the chase on track. Ankur and Fazlu also contributed 26 and 18 respectively. However, it was the innings of Hasan Imam that really pushed the needle in the favor of Mission Peak towards the end of the chase and Mission Peak looked set to chase it down. With only 15 needed off the last over, DH captain Zubair trusted his super sub Rabbani to defend against a rampaging MP. Rabbani got hit for a 4 first ball. With only 11 needed off 5 balls, he bowled the next 5 balls like a champ and only gave up 2 runs and picked up 2 wickets to seal the win for DH. An absolutely memorable game and superb ex*****on from the youngsters to place DH in very good spot to qualify for finals.
Match 3:
Dark Horse vs Dhaka Tigers
DH: 144/9 in 20 overs(Manna 58, Raiyan 34, Farhan 3/10, Sani 2/25, Shaju 2/43)
Beat DT by 33 runs
MP: 111/9 in 20 overs( Qamruzzaman 25, Farhan 17, Rabbani 3/21, Albee 2/16, Toufiq 1/3, Khaled 1/7, Rumman 1/27, Mridul 1/37)
Man of the Match: Manna
This was the last match of the round robin league and a matchup of last year's finalists. The way the table was set up meant this was a virtual semi even though DH was going in with a superior NRR. Overnight rain meant, the pitch was quite wet and due to earlier match, the pitch also had a fair amount of mud on it making it unpredictable.
DH had before the toss decided to bowl with rain looming in the background as well, however, at the toss DH captain decided he wanted to have a bat first.
This was a challenging task and DH was immediately on the backfoot as Sakiul was sent back early and Imran who came in at #3 found it difficult to get going. However, Manna was still in imperious form and continued to bat as if he was batting on a completely different pitch than the rest. At score of 71, Imran's testing innings came to an end and Zaheen also perished trying to continue to keep up with the momentum. Raiyan joined Manna and they both looked set to push the score along but unfortunately Manna was run out( Mankaded quite unceremoniously by Ali) and suddenly DH had lost momentum with the fall of 3 quick wickets and the pitch was still difficult to navigate for new batters. Ashraf and Raiyan went about repairing the innings and pushed the score to 133 by the end of 17th over when Raiyan got out for well-made 34 trying to glide one. The nature of the pitch was once again at play as the rest of the batters could only push the score to 144/9 by the end of 20 overs.
While not a massive score, DH felt confident with the score on board given how difficult the pitch was. No one other than Manna and Raiyan had scored in double digits and in the ealier game, 100 was defended by MP.
Dhaka Tigers found it difficult to get going agaist a very sustained and disciplined show from DH bowlers. DH bowlers had improved since the first game, and it showed in their approach as DT was quickly reduced to 25/4 in 7 overs and their best batters thus far including Kamal was back in the dug out. Farhan and Shaju offered brief resistance but DT continued to lose wickets against a very pumped up Dark Horse attack which was now hunting in packs. Rabbani was at the pick of the bowlers picking up 3/21 while rest of the bowlers were relentless against DT as well. DH won the game by 33 runs and ensured their unbeaten streak continued going into finals against Mission Peak.
Match 4: Finals
Dark Horse vs Mission Peak
Dark Horse: 132/7 in 20 overs( Manna 76, Raiyan 17, Saif 4/18, Noor 2/28)
beat Mission Peak in super over
Mission Peak: 132/8 in 20 overs(Fazlu 31, Julhas 26, Noor 23, Toufiq 3/10, Albhee 2/18, Rabbani 2/34)
Super over:
MP: 4/1 in 1 over
DH: 6/0 in 0.1 over
Man of the match: Manna
With arguably the two best teams in the tournament in the finals, the overnight rain made for a rather interesting set up for the final of the BPL tournament. Mission Peak had time and again found way to win from improbable situation making them a very determined and plucky side to contend with. They had the batting firepower and grit to match their bowling prowess. Dark Horse had simply been banking on the performances on their fantastic bowling attack and top order which found ways to score runs even in the toughest of conditions.
The match got off to a delayed start due to wet pitch and outfield conditions. MP won the toss and had no hesitation sending DH into bat given how difficult batting would be under these conditions.
Manna and Raiyan set off cautiously given the tough conditions wanting to ensure that there were wickets in hand and let the wicket settle in a bit for batters to come. The pair still kept scoring at a steady pace as they reached 60 for no loss by the end of 8th over as Raiyan was given caught behind for 17. After that Zaheen, the inform batter for DH also departed without scoring putting a lot of pressure on Manna's shoulder to carry on giving DH a score that the bowlers could defend. Manna once again showed amazing poise and maturity by holding down one end even as wickets kept tumbling on the other side as none of the other batters could even cross into double digits. Manna's valiant 76 not out allowed DH to post a sub par 132/7 in 20 overs.
Given Missions Peak's batting depth and they had almost chased 200 against DH in earlier match the game seemed to be favoring heavily towards their favor at innings break.
However, even as the wicket dried off and eased up, DH felt if they bowled to their plan and in the right areas, they would still put pressure on MP. Runs on board in a final is always challenging.
As MP got going Toufiq bowled a peach first up to Saif that saw the top of off stump clipped. MP had a few moments of luck with the ball hitting the stumps three separate occasions with the bails being dislodged and everything seemed to be going their way. However, DH bowlers continued to execute on the plans given to them and while Julhas batted with grit on one end, but DH found ways to keep picking up wickets at the other end. While MP and DH kept wrestling advantages back and forth. In the 14th over Fazlul picked up 22 runs and that tipped the scales towards MP by bringing the equation down to just 43 needed off 36 balls with 5 wickets in hand. However, Toufiq, Khaled and Albhee fought back in the next few overs aided by some good catching in the field and it left MP needing 20 off last two overs. Albhee came in a bowled a fiery over conceeding only 5 runs and picked up two wickets.
With 15 runs needed, DH was now out of their regular bowlers and captain Zubair turned to Zaheen to bowl the finals over.
Zaheen's first ball went for a 6 reducing the equation to 9 off 5 balls. Zaheen held his nerve and next three balls were yielded only 2 runs as MP captain was eager to hold onto strike and turned down singles to ensure he could try to maximize scoring. With just 7 needed off 2, 5th ball was dispatched for 6 and 1 was needed off 1 ball for MP to win. Zaheen bowled a magnificent slower ball that Noor was unable to connect despite his earlier heroics and match was tied at 132/8.
Super Over:
MP batted first against a fired up Albhee where he conceded mere 4 runs in the over as Noor and Fazlul found it hard to get going against his pace and accuracy.
In a rather anticlimax to the tense game, the very first ball from Fazlu was dispatched by Zaheen for a six to give DH its second consecutive BPL title and 8-0 unbeated streak!
Congrats to both Dark Horse and Mission Peak for an unforgettable final and end of an amazing tournament.
Dark Horse boys showed amazing grit and determination and proved their worth by talking with their bat and ball!
Stats Highlights:
Top 3 batters of the tournament were from Dark Horses
1. Manna(190 runs)
2. Zaheen(152 runs)
3. Raiyan(130 runs)
3 of the top 5 bowlers of the tournament were also from Dark Horses:
2. Rabbani( 7 wkts)
4. Albhee(6 wkts)
5. Toufiq(5 wkts)
Players ranking also had 3 of the top 5 players in the Tournament from Dark Horse:
1. Manna( #1)
3. Zaheen( #3)
4. Raiyan( #4)
Tournament highest scores:
Top 3:
1. Zaheen - 106
2. Manna - 76*
3. Raiyan - 64*
https://cricclubs.com/BJITBayTigersBPL2023/teamResults.do?teamId=21&clubId=5696
