Resurgent Ctg do not want to look back
Comilla to clash with Barisal in first match today
Sports Reporter
Resurgent Chittagong Vikings will face-off Khulna Titans in days second match of the third phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) at 5:45pm today.
This will be the second encounter for Chittagong and Khulna. Titans edged past Chittagong Vikings by four runs in the low-scoring affair in their first meeting in Dhaka. The match will be revenge-taking match for Vikings, who meanwhile consolidated their position on the points table by winning matches at a stretch.
Their resurgence has been started from the second phase in Chittagong, where they played one match more than other franchisee teams. The team posted three victories off their four matches. Although they launched a winning start beating defending champions Comilla Vikings by 29 runs in the BPL-4 curtain raiser, they thereafter went to back foot following their losing streak in four matches on the trot.
Therefore, they had not looked back as they are continuing winning matches. The arrival of West Indies T20 hard-hitter Chris Gayle gave a big boost for the team. Vikings are now third on point table just after Dhaka Dynamites (12) and Khulna Titans (12) with 10 points what they claimed from five victories off their nine-match road string.
Khulna on the other hand moved forward in slow pace and managed to notch up 12 points from six wins off their nine matches. The team had no big names but they maintained their winnings spree by their teams combined effort.
Chittagong Vikings were refrained from practice as they played against Rangpur Riders on Sundays night. But Khulna Titans appeared in Mirpur to hone their batting and bowling skills before going into the virtual final clash against Vikings.
They want to continue their winning streak against Vikings what they did in the first phase in Dhaka. During the gap of their practice session, Titans all-rounder Alok Kapali spoke to the media.
It is difficult to predict in T20 which team will be winners. Then Chittagong are in good position. We are also passing very good time. We will try to be positive as much as possible, said Alok Kapali, whose bat made Comilla Victorians champions in the last edition.
We are not thinking much about who are in our opposition team. Well try to play our own game and thats our main plan in the next match, Kapali told media.
Sylhet-born lad said that they will try their level best to ensure their next berth by winning the next match against Chittagong Vikings.
All are equal team. Its not that one is 20 and other is 15. Actually all are either 19 or 20 in strength. Change is an inevitable thing. We have left three matches. We will try to do fare well tomorrow. If we could win the match then we could be ensured our berth into the next position, spin all-rounder said.
We were lagged behind run-rate in the initial stage. Now it has been better. If we could play well in the next matches then we have nothing to be worried about run-rate. Well get down for winning. So, we will try to be positive as much as possible. Well try to win the match by our hundred percent, he also said.
We had no such planning. Actually we have plans to evolve throughout the tournament match by match. We were being considered us as an underdog. We started our campaign with underdog tag and try to give our hundred percent. It is true that we had not big names in the team. We just play our games. We regularly gave our 80-90 percent. It would be better if we could give our hundred percent, Kapali added.
In days first match, Barisal Bulls will take on Comilla Victorians at the SBNCS at 1:00pm. Reigning champions Comilla have been already thrown out of the race, while a win for Barisal could revive their hopes of improving their position to stay in next years BPL.
