Semi-final race heats up from today

point tabble (25 feb 12)

The last week’s action of the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 will roll on at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from today with the race for the semi-finals heated up.

With the first season of the BPL inching towards climax, the Khulna Royal Bengals and Duronto Rajshahi are all but certain to make the cut – but there are three other teams who are vying for the semi-final berths as well.

Khulna won five of the eight matches they played and have 10 points under their belt and having a superior net run-rate of +0.62 they are sitting at the top of the points table with only two matches left.

Khulna could have surely confirmed their semi-final ticket if they did not lose to the Barisal Burners in their last match at Chittagong. In fact, the win for the Burners made the semis race wide open with all the franchises, barring Sylhet Royals, have some kind of chances.

Duronto Rajshahi, who are also on 10 points after playing a game lesser than Khulna, are currently the side to beat.

The Rajshahi side, after losing the first two matches, hold the record of five consecutive victories in the BPL and with the flow they are in, they can surely win the rest of their matches to spice up the points table.

Only net run-rate separates Chittagong Kings, Dhaka Gladiators and Barisal Burners in the table as they occupy third, fourth and fifth places respectively with the Kings and the Gladiators playing seven matches each while the Burners played eight.

Sylhet Royals, yet to get a point in the BPL, have lost all of their seven matches they played and are already out of contention, but they too can create a difference if they win their remaining matches against Rajshahi, Chittagong and Khulna.

Chittagong Kings and Dhaka Gladiators will face off today and it will be a battle of nerves as the winners will move ahead in the race for the semi-finals while the losing side will have to come back stronger to book a place in the knockout round.

On the other hand, the second match of the day will feature Rajshahi and Sylhet where a win will surely guarantee Rajshahi as the first team to progress to the final four, but a Sylhet win will delay their celebration.

Barisal’s remaining two matches are against the Gladiators and the Kings and a loss for any of the teams might prove costly as all of them have equal points.

It will be a close fight between the five franchises who are separated by just two points and any slip-up will mean the tournament is over for them.