Comilla Victorians beat Barisal Bulls by three wickets in the Bangladesh Premier League final.

Agencies/Mirpur


Comilla Victorians edged Barisal Bulls in a thrilling final to be crowned the champions of the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League.
With the three-wicket win last night, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has now won his third successive BPL title as captain. Before this, Mashrafe had led Dhaka Gladiators to the title in the 2012 and 2013 editions of BPL.
Alok Kapali (39 not out off 28 balls) held his nerves to take his team over the line in the last ball of the match in an electric atmosphere at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Mirpur. Needing 23 runs off the last two overs, the Victorians stumbled in Kevon Cooper’s first two balls when they lost Darren Stevens (8) and Mashrafe (0) in successive balls.
But Kapali hit consecutive boundaries to bring the equation down to 13 off 6 balls. The Comilla franchise lost Shuvagata Home Chowdhury (1) in the first ball of the final over before Kapali cracked two more fours, ran a double and then a single to send the Victorians fans into spasms of delight.
Opener Imrul Kayes had laid the groundwork for the chase, which eclipsed a superb effort from Mahmudullah. The Bulls skipper ended up on the losing side despite a scintillating fourth-wicket stand with Shahriar Nafees that lifted his team to 157 for 7. He was also involved in four crucial dismissals.
A gritty 81-run stand off 56 balls between captain Mahmudullah (48) and Nafees (44 not out off 31 balls) had earlier taken the Bulls, invited to bat first by Mashrafe, to the fighting total. Although the ball was coming on to the bat, the Bulls’ openers remained vigilant early on before Seekkuge Prasanna (33 off 19 balls) speared the first boundary through cover in the third over.

CSA charges ‘intermediary’ with trying to fix Twenty20 games
South African cricket authorities have charged an unnamed “intermediary” with attempting to fix matches in the country’s recently completed domestic Twenty20 competition. Cricket South Africa (CSA) made the announcement on yesterday without revealing the identity of the individual. It’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit has charged a perpetrator under the ruling body’s Anti-Corruption Code.
“The intermediary has been charged with contriving to fix, or otherwise improperly influence, aspects of the 2015 Twenty20 Challenge Series and with failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to co-operate with an investigation carried out by CSA’s designated Anti-Corruption Official,” CSA said in a statement.
“The provisional suspension means that the intermediary may not be involved in any capacity in any match or any other kind of function ... recognised or supported in any way by CSA, the ICC, a National Cricket Federation or any member of a National Cricket Federation,” CSA added. “As is the standard practice with the ICC, neither CSA nor the ICC will make any further comment in respect of on-going investigations.”
The Pretoria-based Titans won the domestic Twenty20 competition on Saturday when they defeated the Dolphins from Durban in the final. Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen played for the Dolphins.