Comilla Victorians and Dhaka Dynamites were the most consistent teams of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2017 in the group stages. They finished first and second respectively, and are hence set for the all-important qualifier 1 match against one another at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Friday.
The victorious team will reach the finals of BPL 2017, while the losing franchise, who will face the winner of the eliminator, will still get one more shot to reach the final. However, both Victorians and Dynamites will be more than keen to book their finals spot and have more time to rest and prepare for the title-decider.
Victorians come into this match with a win under their belt, against Sylhet Sixers, and will look to carry that form in qualifier 1 as well. They will depend on the quality and in-form players like Marlon Samuels, Shoaib Malik and Tamim Iqbal in the batting front.
However, there is a serious need for Jos Buttler, who has not done justice to his batting skills, to fire on Friday.
They will not be given much freebies by Dhaka bowlers such as Mosaddek Hossain, Shahid Afridi, Mohammed Amir and Shakib Al Hasan in their camp. It is their rich variety in the bowling attack, which will test the Victorians in-form batsmen.
Make no mistake, the Dynamites are a strong batting unit as well, with Evin Lewis, Narine, Kieron Pollard, Joe Denly among others. Dhaka will also be plotting revenge as they lost both their matches to Comilla in the group stages.
They will have to be on top of their game when they come up against Victorians' bowlers including Hasan Ali, Mahedi Hasan and Al-Amin Hossain.
Both the teams have solid players in all departments of the game, but consistency over a period of 40 overs will decide which team goes through to the final directly.
Where to watch live
Comilla Victorians vs Dhaka Dynamites qualifier 1 is scheduled for 7 pm local time (6:30 pm IST). Here are the live streaming and TV options.
India: No coverage.
Bangladesh: Gazi TV: Live streaming: Gazi TV Online
England: Free Sports