The Bangladesh Premier League 2016 was always expected to be a close contest in the group stages, and it proved to be with some quality cricket in the offing. After some entertaining brand of cricket for the last four weeks or so, four teams, Dhaka Dynamites, Khulna Titans, Chittagong Vikings and Rajshahi Kings, have made it to the playoff stages of BPL 2016.
However, there were some disappointments in the competition during the round robin especially for defending champions Comilla Victorians, who failed to make it into the playoffs. Though they finished the competition on a high with four straight wins, they fell short due to their poor start. The Rangpur Riders, on the contrary, started well but lost out on the top four spot after losing five of their last six matches in the competition.
Now that is a thing of the past and the focus will lie on the four qualified teams in the competition. There is a huge advantage for teams qualifying in the top two positions – Dhaka Dynamites and Khulna Titans -- of the BPL 2016 league as the loser will still have a second chance of reaching the finals of the competition via a second qualifier match.
Dynamites will face Titans in Qualifier 1, while Vikings have set up a date with Kings in the eliminator, which will be the first match on Tuesday.
The clash between Vikings and Kings is a knockout as the winner will take on the loser of Qualifier 1 for a place in the final.
The Vikings might be a team packed with stars including Tamim Iqbal, Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Taskin Ahmed among others, but they do not come into the eliminator clash with huge confidence after losing back-to-back matches. The Kings, who pipped Riders with a good net run rate, need to be consistent, something they have lacked so far. The Kings with all-rounders like James Franklin, Darren Sammy and Samit Patel can be a dangerous team in the playoffs.
It is the Dynamites clash against Titans that will be huge on Tuesday. Both the teams are aware of the direct route towards a final for the winnings team, which also means huge rest for the triumphant side ahead of the final. Hence, a brilliant contest is on the cards.
Though the Dynamites finished on top of the table, they failed to beat Titans on both the instances in BPL 2016 including their last match in the round robin stages. It will be revenge time for the Dynamites, who are aware of the need to play some brilliant cricket to defeat Titans. The Dynamites have the goods, and will look for in-form Kumar Sangakkara to deliver the goods along with all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan to shine.
The Titans may not have stars like that of other teams, but players like Andre Fletcher, Junaid Khan and Mahmuddulah will have to bring their A game, lead from the front to take their team to the final. Both Dynamites and Titans are aware that a second chance does exist even if they lose this encounter, but they are expected to be give it their all in this match and reach the title-decider, which is set to be played on Friday.
BPL 2016 playoffs schedule
Eliminator: Chittagong Vikings vs Rajshahi Kings
Date: December 6
Time: 1 pm local time (12:30 pm IST) start
Qualifier 1: Dhaka Dynamites vs Khulna Titans
Date: December 6
Time: 5:45 pm local time (5.15 pm IST).
Qualifier 2: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Eliminator.
Date: December 7
Time: 5:45 pm local time (5.15 pm IST).
Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2.
Date: December 9
Time: 6:15 pm local time (5.45 pm IST).
All matches will be played at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur
TV listings: India: Sony Six, Sony Six HD. Bangladesh: Channel Nine BD. Pakistan: Geo Super
