BPL 2022 | Chattogram Challengers emerge victorious in a must-win game to book their place in playoffs

As it happened, Chattogram Challengers hammered Sylhet Sunrisers by four wickets in their final league match of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2022.

In a do-or-die encounter, Chattogram Challengers opted to bowl first, which eventually turned out to be a good decision. However, Sylhet Sunrisers gave a positive start to their innings, aiming to take utmost advantage of the powerplay. 

Courtesy of a much-improved show with the willow, the side led by Ravi Bopara focused on playing aggressive strokes with openers Colin Ingram and Anamul Haque continuing their good form with the bat. 

As the Sunrisers lost two wickets in quick succession, the onus was on middle-order batters to finally contribute and to everyone's surprise they did so. Lendl Simmons, Ravi Bopara and Mosaddek Hossain sailed the ship safely, scoring 42, 44 and 35 runs respectively. Eventually, Sylhet scored 185 runs in their quota of 20 overs.

For Chattogram, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury continued to add wickets to his tally as the young pacer claimed three wickets, giving away 37 runs in the recently-concluded match.

With a huge total to chase, the Challengers started their innings briskly and lost the wicket of their opener Zakir Hasan while doing so. Skipper Afif Hossain departed soon trying to up the ante. The required rate creeped up and things were looking bleak for the Challengers.

However, Will Jacks marched on his merry way and was joined by Chadwick Walton in the middle. Jacks went bonkers and started dominating the proceedings. Walton too played his part well but his quick-fire 35-run ended in an unfortunate manner, courtesy of a run-out. 

Jacks along with Shamim Hossain took their side closer to the total but the latter got out for 21 runs, just a few steps away from the finishing line. Jacks ended the match with a six as Chattogram breezed past Sylhet's total with four wickets to spare.

The win pushed the Challengers to the next stage, while their position on the points table will depend on the evening match. On the other hand, the Sunrisers had a forgetful campaign as they won just one match in BPL 2022 and have a lot to ponder upon.