Khaled Ahmed’s fiery spell and a composed half-century from Mahmudul Hasan Joy propelled Durbar XI into the final of the Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup as they cruised to a seven-wicket win over Duronto XI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday.
Durbar will now face Dhumketu XI in Monday’s final at the same venue. Dhumketu had earlier beaten Duronto by six wickets before suffering a narrow two-wicket defeat to Durbar.
Put in to bat, Duronto were rocked early by Khaled’s incisive new-ball spell. The right-arm pacer removed three of the top four batters and finished with excellent figures of 4-23 from four overs. Duronto were reduced to 32 for four inside nine overs, with none of the top four reaching double figures.
A fifth-wicket stand of 45 between Ariful Islam (41 off 32 balls) and S M Meherob Hasan (36 off 23) gave Duronto brief hope, but once the pair departed, the innings lost momentum. Abdul Gaffar Saqlain added some late runs with a brisk 18 off nine balls as Duronto were bowled out for 145 in 19.5 overs.
Durbar’s chase was effectively sealed inside the powerplay. Joy played the anchor role superbly, scoring a measured 59 off 51 balls, including seven fours and a six. He added 61 for the first wicket with Habibur Rahman Sohan, who blasted 39 off just 17 deliveries to put Durbar firmly on course.
Nurul Hasan Sohan (28 not out) and Afif Hossain (11 not out) completed the task without further trouble, guiding Durbar to 149 for three in 17.3 overs.
Despite Gaffar’s three-wicket haul (3-23), Duronto lacked support with the ball and suffered their second consecutive defeat, bowing out of the three-team tournament.