Dhaka upbeat to win Eliminator against Barishal

Despite their defeat to Fortune Barishal in the last match of the group phase in a high-scoring game, Beximco Dhaka is confident to keep their Bangabandhu T20 Cup final hope alive as they lock horns the same opponent in the Eliminator game today at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, the match starts at 12.30 pm.

Those who will be beaten in the Eliminator game will be eliminated from the tournament straightway. The winner however will take on the defeated side of the first Qualifier game in the second Qualifier on Tuesday.

“Since the game is against Barishal again, it gives us some advantage to devise our plan. We made some mistakes in the last game against them but we are quite confident that we can rectify our mistakes when we take on them again,” Dhaka head coach Khaled Mahmud Sujon said yesterday.

Both Dhaka and Barishal faced a lot of ups and downs on their way to seal the playoffs. Mushfiqur Rahim-led Dhaka was on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs race after losing the first three matches in a row. But they hit back nicely and won four straight matches to seal the playoffs.

They could have even finished in top two and thus played the first Qualifier game but a two-run defeat at the hands of Barishal in the last game, not only ended their four-match winning streak but also ruined their hope of playing the first Qualifier.

No team has however an edge going into the Eliminator game with their result in the group phase locked at 1-1. While Dhaka won the first leg match by seven wickets, Barishal took revenge by defeating Dhaka by two runs in the second leg.

Barishal however also had their own problems. Until the win against Dhaka in the last game, they were not sure about the playoffs. They finally won three games and eliminated Minister Group Rajshahi from the race to play the playoffs.

“After winning the last game, we are now confident about our chances,” said Barishal stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz.