Tamim Iqbal hauled Comilla Victorians onto his back and carried them to their second Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title with an unbeaten 141 off 61 balls, with eleven sixes and ten fours that put the final too far beyond Dhaka Dynamites, who fell to a 17-run defeat, their second final loss in a row.
Tamim found the perfect time to post his highest T20 score, and also his first hundred in the BPL. It was also the second-highest score in the BPL behind Chris Gayle’s unbeaten 146 in the 2017-18 final.
Tamim’s six-hitting really began in the 11th over, when he slog-swept Shuvagata Hom to move from 39 to 45. Before that, he had hit one six in 28 balls and from there on he hit ten in 33 balls. No matter if it was Shakib Al Hasan’s spin or the pace of Rubel Hossain and Andre Russell, everything pinged off the middle of Tamim’s bat and rained into the Mirpur crowd. There were slog-sweeps, clean straight hits,and the pick of them all was an effortless flick off Rubel that flew over square leg.
It was an almost literally single-handed effort from Tamim. Even as he spanked 141from the 61 balls he faced, the other Victorians who batted today - Evin Lewis, Anamul Haque, Shamsur Rahman and Imrul Kayes - managed 47 off 59 between them.
Imrul, who was involved in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 100, contributedan unbeaten 17 off 21 balls. Tamim was particularly devastating against Rubel and Russell, hitting them for 69 off 28 balls, at a strike rate of 246.43.
The Dynamites replied spectacularly too, particularly Rony Talukdar who blasted a 38-ball 66 with six fours and four sixes. Upul Tharanga supported him with 48 off 27 balls, but once their 102-run second-wicket stand ended, the Victorians roared back, taking the wickets of Shakib, Rony and Russell soon after to all but end the contest.
When Kieron Pollard also fell in the 16th over, the Dynamites lost their last big-game player. Wahab Riaz’s 3 for 28 might be lost amid the Tamim headlines, but his bowling was just as crucial, given the way the Dynamites were going atone stage. He sent down the tight overs just when it mattered for the Victorians.