Mohammad Amir and Saeed Ajmal inspire Chittagong Vikings to a thrilling 1-run win against Sylhet Super Stars

Mohammad Amir bowled a brilliant last over to guide Chittagong Vikings to their first win of the season

Mohammad Amir and Saeed Ajmal, two Pakistani stars who are out of international cricket for different reasons, were the stars for Chittagong Vikings in a thrilling 1-run victory against the Sylhet Super Stars in the third match of Bangladesh Premier League 2015.

There was a huge controversy prior to the match, as the Vikings refused to take the field for a while because the Superstars playing eleven had been changed after the toss. The match started one hour late, and Ravi Bopara and Josh Cobb were eventually not allowed to play for the Superstars because their clearance certificates were produced too late.

Vikings captain Tamim Iqbal, perhaps charged with the anger with which he protested the late inclusions of the two English players, blitzed his way to a 45-ball 69. Tillakaratne Dilshan was dismissed for a golden duck, but the worst part of the day was yet to come for the Sri Lanka all-rounder.

Tamim found an able partner in Yasir Ali, who also gave a late charge to finish with a 52-ball 63. The Vikings had set the Superstars a target of 181.

In reply, Dilshan Munaweera took the attack to the Vikings bowlers from ball one, dispatching Dilshan for six consecutive boundaries in the second over of the match – to give the chase a definite direction in the Superstars’ favour.

38-year-old Saeed Ajmal, who has been frozen out of international cricket, picked up two wickets in the 8th over, but the initial charge given by Munaweera meant that the batsmen to come only had to carry on the good work.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim entered the fray, but soon found he was losing his partners with alarming frequency to unheralded Bangladeshi fast bowler Shafiul Islam, who finished with figures of 3/25 in his four overs.

After a brief duel between Mushfiqur and the Vikings bowlers, the equation came down to whether Amir could defend 9 runs in the last over of the match – the second time in two days that the Chittagong team found themselves in a pressure situation in the last over of a high scoring thriller.

With 7 runs needed off the last two balls, Mushfiqur hit a boundary through the covers but could only manage a single off the last ball – handing a 1-run victory to the Vikings.

Brief Scores:

Chittagong Vikings 180/5 (Tamim Iqbal 69, Yasir Ali 63; Md Shahid 1/27, Ajantha Mendis 1/27)

Sylhet Super Stars 179/6 (Dilshan Munaweera 64, Mushfiqur Rahim 50; Saeed Ajmal 2/35, Md Amir 0/19)

Dilshan hit 6 fours in an over off Mitchell Johnson in World Cup. Now Dilshan Munaweera hits Dilshan for 6 fours in an over in BPL.

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) November 23, 2015

Mohammad Amir bowled a fantastic last over to win it for his team this time. His fabulous 19th over in the 1st match went in vain. #BPL2015

— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) November 23, 2015

Love him; hate him, want him back; want him banned. The only truth is that Mohammad Amir is seriously good. #BPL #CVvSS

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) November 23, 2015