The first semi-final of the BPL will have the team
that finished first in the league playing the team that finished fourth.
Duronto Rajshahi finished first, with 14 points, but until 2.00 am on
the morning of the semi-final, it wasn't clear who finished fourth.
Initially, on Sunday, it was announced that Barisal Burners were through
to the semis, after their victory against Chittagong Kings, on the
basis of net run-rate. At that point, the other two spots were going to
be contested between Chittagong, Khulna Royal Bengals and Dhaka
Gladiators.
On Monday, after Dhaka lost narrowly to Rajshahi and Khulna beat Sylhet
Royals, Khulna went to second place with 12 points, leaving Dhaka,
Barisal and Chittagong tied on 10 points at the end of the league phase.
In the head-to-head results between the teams level on 10 points, Dhaka
had beaten Barisal twice and Chittagong once and had a superior net-run
rate and qualified for the semi-finals in third place. That now left
Chittagong and Barisal in contention for the fourth spot.
Chittagong had two wins, against Barisal and Dhaka, while Barisal had
only one, against Chittagong. Barisal's net run-rate, however, was
better than that of Chittagong. It was initially announced that
Chittagong were in the semi-finals, presumably on the basis of a better
head-to-head record in the three-way tie on 10 points, which included
Dhaka. At 2.45 am this morning, however, the BPL issued a release which
said that Barisal was the fourth semi-finalist, presumably because their
head-to-head record with Chittagong - not including Dhaka who had
already qualified - was tied and they had a better net run-rate.
The upshot of all this confusion was that Rajshahi had ample time to
prepare mentally for their knockout clash, while their opponents were
left in limbo until the wee hours of the morning.
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