Two teams in Khulna Tigers and Dhaka Dominators never looked like making it through to the playoffs of the Bangladesh Premier League 2023 right from the initial stages of the tournament, and they did eventually finish at the 5th and 6th spot in the points table. The Chattogram Challengers, on the other hand, had a forgetful tournament as well as they finished at the bottom spot in the table. All these three sides managed to win mere three of their 12 matches in the league stage, and deservedly got crashed out of BPL 2023.
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Thus, while Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Riders are now scheduled to play the Eliminator, the first and second placed sides in Sylhet Strikers and Comilla Victorians will feature in the first Qualifier later, on February 12 (Sunday) at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
The Strikers will yet again bank upon their openers in Towhid Hridoy and Najmul Hossain Shanto, who presently are at the first and third spot respectively in the leading run-scorers list of the tournament.
Victorians, on the other hand, would also expect some fireworks from their openers in Mohammad Rizwan and Litton Das, with the likes of Andre Russell and Khushdil Shah as the potent finishers down the order.
BPL 2023 today match pitch report
The Eliminator match earlier in the afternoon between the Fortune Barishal and the Riders is likely to bring in the spinners into the game, more so than the pacers.
The pitch will yet again play out well in favour of the batters, but overall is likely to be a balanced one for both batters and the bowlers, with scores likely to be in the vicinity of the 160-run mark.
During the first Qualifier contest later in the evening, batting is expected to get easier under the lights, with the captain winning the Toss likely to bat second and chase the total down.
The average score at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka in BPL 2023 has been 152 runs across 22 matches, with score in excess of the 200-run mark breached just once by the Strikers earlier in the tournament.
