Sports desk: Sylhet Strikers set up a Bangladesh Premier League 2023 final clash with reigning champions Comilla Victorians after they beat Rangpur Riders by 19 runs during the second qualifier at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.Najmul Hossain Shanto made the highest 40 runs while Mashrafe bin Mortaza also played an important innings of 28 off 16 balls as Sylhet posted a challenging total of 182-7 in their 20 overs after they were sent into bat first Rangpur opener Rony Talkudar smashed 66 off 52 balls while Nurul Hasan Sohan and Nicholas Pooran made 33 and 30 runs respectively to take their side 150-3 in the 17th over and things looked in favour of Rangpur for their second BPL final qualification.However, Sylhet pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib (2-19) bowled a sensational 18th over where he conceded only two runs and removed Nurul while Rony was also run out by Zakir Hasan’s brilliant wicketkeeping that brought Sylhet back in the contest.
Luke Wood (3-34), who played his first BPL game, then dismissed Mahedi Hasan (two) and Dwaye Bravo (0) in the penultimate over and conceded just three runs to make the equation 28 runs in the last over.
Rubel Hossain (2-42) conceded two boundaries in the first two balls by Dasun Shanaka (10) but he kept his calm and bowled four dot balls while also bowled Shanaka in the last ball to restrict Rangpur to 163-8 in their 20 overs to confirm their maiden BPL final berth.
The final between Sylhet and three-time champions Comilla will be held at the same venue on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Sylhet’s in-form openers Shanto and Towhid Hridoy gave them a rollicking start as they put up 65 runs in the opening stand in the crucial knockout encounter.
The partnership was finally broken by off-spinner Mahedi Hasan who trapped Shanto in front which ended his 30-ball innings consisting of five fours and a six.
Hridoy followed his partner soon as he was dismissed by Hasan Mahmud after he made run-a-ball 25.
Sylhet skipper Mashrafe, who promoted himself to number three, then smashed a couple of big shots that kept the scoreboard tickling while Zakir (16 off 13) and Ryan Burl (15 off six) also played some decent knocks to set a platform for an exciting finish for Sylhet.
Shanaka removed both Zakir and Burl before Mashrafe was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo after hitting three fours and a six.Mushfiqur Rahim, who had a poor BPL season, failed to contribute much with the bat in the vital match as well as he was removed by Mahmud which reduced Sylhet’s innings to 142-6 in the 17th over.However, Sylhet’s two foreign recruits Thisara Perera (21 off 15 balls) and George Linde (21 off 10 balls not out) then shared a 36-run stand off just 21 balls to their beyond the 180-run mark.

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