That's it from our end. Noakhali Express have beaten the Dhaka Capitals, which makes the points table interesting for the top four sides. We will have the last two clashes in the Sylhet leg tomorrow, before the league shifts to Mirpur. See you then and there.
Till then, this is Arjun Bhalla signing off on behalf of Mohammad Anab, Sachin Yadav & Aman (the stats guys).
Haider Ali (Noakhali Express Captain): "Good that we have won back-to-back matches, and hopefully we will try to win the remaining two league games too. Our openers did well. It's a proud moment for Hassan as well as for his father, Nabi. We reached the 180+ score because of our opening stand.
We were aware that by the 4th innings, the wicket would become even slower and the ball would turn even further. Making it difficult to hit boundaries.
Our batting and bowling combination has become good. Everybody is performing wherever they get an opportunity. We hope to carry this momentum.
Now, since we will move to Dhaka, then over there, everything will change over there. From crowd to weather, everything will change. We hope to carry on this momentum."
Hassan Eisakhil (POTM): "Thanks to the Almighty. The plan was simple. From the first day I came in for this season, I was trying to adjust to the conditions. I had been sitting out for seven matches, but when I got my opportunity, I was all set. Great to contribute to a win. Fortunately, we have won two games in two outings."
Player of the Match: Hassan Eisakhil
Time for post-match presentations...
Mohammad Mithun (Dhaka Capitals Captain): "Nothing worked for us. Poor execution by our players. Disappointing night for us. I thought we lost the game in the powerplay when we were batting. Also, the same when we were bowling, we gave too many runs in the powerplay. I did my research and tried to follow a process but the reality is that if our top four batters are not getting runs then it becoems very difficult to win a match."
9:11 PM IST, 9:41 PM Local Time: The Dhaka Capitals have succumbed under pressure in this tall chase of 185 runs against Noakhali Express, who have won two in two in their previous outings.
After the Noakhali batters gave them a massive total, the bowlers came out like a force to be reckoned with. It started with Ihsanullah and Hasan Mahmud breathing fire, and Mahedi Hasan Rana and Mohammad Nabi did their gig.
DC's top order failed inside the powerplay, but skipper Mohammad Mithun and Shamim Hossain came to the rescue. The duo shared a fifty-plus stand, but it looked like DC could get back in the game. The fifth wicket stand eventually ended on 54 with Shamim's wicket off Nabi's bowling. The skipper soon followed.
Mohammad Saifuddin tried his bit for 34 runs, but no one apart from him could contribute much to the cause. Eventually, the Capitals crumbled for 143 runs to lose this game by 41 runs.
Earlier in the evening, debutant Hassan Eisakhil batted brilliantly and scored a dominating 92 runs. He missed on a ton, but formed a special partnership with his father, Mohammad Nabi, which put the Noakhali Express ahead in the game. Apart from them, opener Soumya Sarkar also played a fine hand of 48 runs.