Comilla Victorians 167 for 6 (Samuels 39, Cooper 3-42) beat Dhaka Dynamites 155 for 8 (Denly 49, Bravo 3-31, Saifuddin 2-18) by 12 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Excellent end-overs bowling from Dwayne Bravo and Mohammad Saifuddin ensured Comilla Victorians jumped back to the top of the table with a 12-run win over Dhaka Dynamites in the last match of the season in Chittagong.
Saifuddin, who had conceded more than 30 runs in an over twice in the last four weeks, held this nerve this time to defend 20 off the final over.
Earlier in the evening, Comilla enjoyed a rapid start but Kevon Cooper's strikes limited them to 167 for 6. Cameos from Kieron Pollard, Mosaddek Hossain, and Jahurul Islam brought Dhaka close but not close enough.
The opening salvo
Tamim Iqbal led the way for Comilla again, taking regular trips down the pitch to hit the new ball over the top. He was particularly severe on Abu Hider, taking 16 runs in seven balls. Tamim added 60 for the opening stand with Liton Das before falling 13 short of his third successive fifty in the league.
Liton kept the scorecard ticking as well, before he was stumped off Shakib Al Hasan in the 12th over. He had made 34 off 30 balls with three fours.
The slowdown
Imrul Kayes struck two fours - both off Mosaddek Hossain in the 11th over - and followed it with a six off Sunil Narine. However, just as he looked to move into a higher gear, he fell for 26, caught at long-on, as he tried to loft Cooper. Marlon Samuels then tried to lift the run-rate, hitting two straight sixes and five fours, but it wasn't enough.
Cooper removed both Samuels and Jos Buttler off successive balls in the 19th over to peg back Comilla.
Denly's one-man show
Evin Lewis fell in the second over of the chase for six - his third single-digit score in this season's BPL. In the absence of Shahid Afridi, Dhaka were in danger of slowing down in the Powerplay, but Denly provided the thrust. He struck Mahedi for a six in the first over before finding two fours in the fifth over off Hasan Ali. Denly then struck Al-Amin Hossain for fours through cover and straight down the ground but Bravo derailed the chase by dismissing both Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine in the next over.
Things got worse for Dhaka when Saifuddin bowled a charging Denly in the 13th over to leave them at 83 for 5.
Bravo v Pollard
With the required run-rate soaring, Pollard slammed Al-Amin over his head for a six, leaving his side needing 60 off the last five overs. But Bravo conceded only eight runs in the 16th over and then Pollard and Mosaddek had a horrible mix-up in the following over, resulting in Mosaddek getting stranded in the middle of the pitch.
Then Bravo got Pollard to swing one off the hip, but the substitute fielder Solomon Mire took the catch at deep square leg.
The Cooper-Bravo collision
Cooper and Bravo collided near the middle of the pitch in the 18th over with Bravo collapsing and Cooper unable to reach the non-striker's end and getting run out. Tamim, the Comilla captain, immediately asked Cooper to continue batting, to which he initially said no. Tamim asked him again but Cooper denied him a second time.
When he stood by the edge of the boundary, the Dhaka coach Khaled Mahmud instructed Cooper to continue, after which he came back to bat. Tamim didn't have a problem, and told the same to the on-field umpires.
Late scare for Comilla
Cooper came back and slammed the last ball of the over for a six over extra cover. In the next over, Jahurul scooped, pulled and square drove Hasan Ali for three fours in a row to bring down the equation to 22 off nine balls. Hasan then gave just one run off the remaining three balls to set things up for Saifuddin to seal victory.
