Barisal Burners v Khulna Royal Bengals, BPL, Chittagong

Mominul pulls off tight win for Barisal Burners

Barisal Burners 162 for 2 (Mominul 53*, Razzak 2-22) beat Khulna Royal Bengals 161 for 7 (Chanderpaul 33, Nasir 31) by 4 wickets

	Khulna's final score was down to Nazmul Hossain Milon's breezy 42, but that wasn't enough to rein Mominul Haque in. © BPL T20

Mominul Haque blazed an unbeaten 53 off just 28 balls to power Barisal Burners to an unlikely four-wicket win with three balls to spare against table-toppers Khulna Royal Bengals. Mominul's heist left the BPL table grid-locked with five of the six teams - separated by just two points - in contention for the semi-finals.

Chasing 162, Barisal had slumped to 53 for 4 in the ninth over when Mominul began to make his presence felt. He found a willing ally in Rameez Raja jnr (22 off 22) who buckled down to build a stand. Together they raised 55 in 6.1 overs to set the stage for a rousing finish.

With 54 needed in 32 balls, and only the lower order for company, Mominul had to man the twin responsibilities of doing the bulk of scoring and getting the runs fast. He was particularly severe on Dolar Mahmud who went for 0 for 23 in two overs. Shakib Al Hasan served Khulna with a timely breakthrough, when he dismissed Farhad Hossain for 12 in the 18th over, with 27 needed off 16 balls.

Khulna could have sealed the game later in the same over when Mominul swung to midwicket, but the fielder in the deep palmed the chance over the ropes. That proved the turning point, and a boundary from Kabir Ali left Barisal needing seven off the last over. Mominul wrapped it up in style, lapping a full toss from Dwayne Smith over fine leg to reach his fifty and complete the chase.

Earlier, Khulna's innings veered between extremes, from a turbo-charged start courtesy Herschelle Gibbs and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, to losing Smith and Shakib for ducks. Nasir Hossain revived the innings with a sprightly 31 off 19 balls, but Khulna's final score was down to Nazmul Hossain Milon's breezy 42 off 31 balls. On the day, though, nothing could rein Mominul in.