Gayle, Mehedi star in Barishal win

Fortune Barishal 141 for 9 (Gayle 45, Perera 2-18) beat Khulna Tigers 124 (Mushfiqur 40, Rana 4-17) by 17 runs

How the match played out

Fortune Barishal put together a late turnaround to beat Khulna Tigers by 17 runs. At 122 for 7, Khulna were just 20 runs away, but left-arm quick Mehedi Hasan Rana took three wickets in the 19th over, including the key scalp of Mushfiqur Rahim off the last ball to seal the victory. Rana finished with career-best figures of 4 for 17 as Barishal successfully defended 141.

Khulna had fought back from early trouble during their chase, with Mushfiqur and Yasir Ali adding 46 runs for the fifth wicket. Thisara Perera followed it up with two sixes and a four in his first eight balls, but then holed out at deep cover where Jacob Lintott took a smart catch, leaving Khulna precariously placed at 108 for 6.

Big Hit

Barishal took the last five Khulna wickets for 16 runs in the space of 16 deliveries. Lintott took Seekugge Prasanna's wicket, before Rana had Farhad Reza caught behind, Sharifullah caught in deep midwicket and Mushfiqur edging an attempted scoop.

Apart from Rana's four, Lintott and Mujeeb Ur-Rahman took two wickets apiece. Shafiqul Islam and Shakib Al Hasan also took one each.

Barishal had earlier tweaked their batting line-up, in a bid to freshen things up. Sent to open for the first time in the tournament, Chris Gayle struck two sixes and six fours in his 45 off 34 balls. But his dismissal in the 11th over took out the sting from the team's attacking approach.

Khulna's Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Thisara Perera and Farhad Reza took two wickets each, while Mahedi Hasan was the most economical among the three spinners.

Big miss

Khulna missed out from both their openers, particularly Andre Fletcher who made just four runs. Soumya Sarkar also got out for a golden duck, to follow up his previous innings in which he made just one run. For Barishal, Shakib continued to struggle with the bat, this time making just 9. It took his tally to just 46 runs in four innings.

Barishal have now moved up from the bottom of the points table, with four points from as many games.

Source: ESPNcricinfo