It turned into a nail-biting thriller in the final over. Despite a heroic lone battle from Shamim Hossain, Dhaka Capitals couldn’t cross the finish line as Sylhet Titans sealed their second consecutive BPL win with a 6-run victory at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Thursday (1st January). The win lifts Sylhet to second place on the points table.
Dhaka’s chase looked nearly impossible—45 runs needed off 12 balls with only two wickets in hand. Shamim refused to back down. He smashed 18 runs off Azmatullah Omarzai’s over and followed it with another 20 off Mohammad Amir in the final over. But his stormy knock still wasn’t enough, as Dhaka’s innings stopped at 167.
Earlier, sent in to bat, Sylhet scored 173 runs in their 20 overs. Coming in at number six, Azmatullah Omarzai turned the match with a blazing 50 off just 24 balls, with Sylhet smashing 74 runs in the last 5 overs. Imon added 44 off 32, while Saim Ayub scored 29. For Dhaka, Salman Mirza and Taskin Ahmed were the most expensive, both conceding 46 runs, though Salman took 2 wickets.
Chasing 174, Dhaka collapsed early—43 for 5 inside 8 overs. Shamim then built a 46-run stand with Sabbir Rahman, who made 23 off 19, but wickets kept falling. Shamim kept the fight alive to the very end, scoring an unbeaten 81 off 43 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes—his highest T20 score—and crossed 2000 career T20 runs in the process.
Omarzai wasn’t just a star with the bat; he shone with the ball too, picking up 3 wickets for 40 runs. Amir and Nasum claimed two each.
After a two-day break, BPL resumed with this clash, which began with a minute of silence to honor former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia. This is Sylhet’s second win in three matches, while Dhaka suffered their first defeat in two games. Remarkably, Omarzai had only joined the team the night before and lit up the match within 24 hours—both with bat and ball—to secure Sylhet’s victory.