Comilla Victorians face Barisal Bulls in the final of the third Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur today (Tuesday).
The final battle of the six-team third version BPL will start at 6:30pm.
There will be musical performances by country’s famous artistes ahead of the final match and the curtain will fall on the tournament with spectacular fireworks. Popular rock band Warfaze and noted singer Shuvro Dev will perform ahead of the match. On the eve of the final, Comilla Victorians captain Mashrafe Mortaza expressed the hope to clinch the title. “We’re hopeful and positive about the final. It’s very clear we’ve reached this stage playing in our own way,” he said.
“We’ll get something good at the end if we play the same way we did in the matches we won,” Mortaza added. On the other hand, Barisal Bulls batsman Shahriar Nafees said, “We don’t want to think the match as a final. But we’ll play like we did in the past. I think that will help us.”
“We’ve done well in the league phase as well as in the qualifier to reach the final. We want to play similarly in the final,” Nafees concluded. Mashrafe and Nafees were addressing a pre-match press conference at SBNCS on Monday.
Victorians will miss their foreign all-rounder Andre Russell who has left for his Big Bash League commitments in Australia. Besides, the team is plagued with injuries of players.
Barisal Bulls have already proved that they can continue their functioning well without Chris Gayle and will have to do the same in the final. Rayad Emrit could be picked over Evin Lewis as one of the four foreigners in the playing eleven.
Comilla Victorians confirmed their final berth in the league as the first team with an entertaining 72-run victory over Rangpur Riders in the first qualifier at the same venue on Saturday.
Barisal Bulls followed the Victorians eliminating Rangpur Riders by five wickets in the 2nd qualifier at the same venue on Sunday. Mashrafe led Dhaka Gladiators in the last two BPL to clinch the title and this is the third opportunity for him to bring another league crown for his side. On the other hand, Mahmudulla-led Chittagong Kings finished runners-up in the second BPL losing to Mashrafe’s Gladiators by 42 runs.
