Sangakkara 75 keeps Sylhet winless

Dhaka Dynamites 166 for 6 (Sangakkara 75, Shahid 2-27) beat Sylhet Superstars 132 (Hasan 35*, Mosharraf 3-15) by 34 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Sylhet Superstars' batting misfired again as they were crushed by Dhaka Dynamites by 34 runs. While Sylhet sunk to their fourth loss in a row, Dhaka joined Comilla Victorians and Rangpur Riders with three wins.

After days of low-scoring encounters, Mirpur had a full house and was treated to some scrumptious batting from Kumar Sangakkara, who made 75 off 56 balls to lead Dhaka to 166. Sylhet then were rattled by regular strikes and were bundled out for 132 in 19.5 overs.

He isn't your run-of-the-mill T20 hitter but Sangakkara's mastery of accumulation meant that he was always going to thrive on a pitch where most batsmen have adopted a cautious approach. Coming to bat in the very first over after the fall of Shykat Ali for a duck, Sangakkara began with four fours off Fidel Edwards, piercing the off-side field three times before tonking one over the bowler's head.

Shadman Islam was dismissed in the fifth over as Sylhet pulled ahead. Sangakkara, though, was undeterred and found assistance from Nasir Hossain. He broke the shackles with a couple of sixes before Sangakkara showed his range. Nasir made 33 off 29 balls before he was bowled by Nasum Ahmed in the 14th over with the score reading 99.

Lahiru Thirimanne, transferred to Dhaka from Comilla, who had initially picked him in the players' draft, then quickly dispatched two fours. Sangakkara soon brought up his first BPL fifty, his 25th overall in T20s, and methodically took apart Ravi Bopara in the 18th over, hitting him for fours over cover and fine leg before hammering him over long-off for a six. Sangakkara fell for 75 off 56 balls in the 19th over but by then Dhaka had assembled a competitive score.

That was then made to look formidable by their skillful bowling attack. Dilshan Munaweera, though, did not disappoint and hit his usual dose of early boundaries. However, he could not make a big score and fell in the fifth over when he picked out mid-on. Josh Cobb was reprieved by Nasir in the fourth over, but he too failed to cash in, and was dismissed by Mosharraf Hossain for 15.

Much like Munaweera, Mominul Haque flashed a couple of fours, but became Mosharraf's second victim when he played on. Mosharraf then got rid of Ravi Bopara to make it three strikes in three overs. Sylhet captain Mushfiqur Rahim tried to revive the chase by attacking Yasir Shah with reverse-swept and conventionally swept fours in the tenth over. Mushfiqur's innings ended when he was trapped in front by Abul Hasan.

Nurul Hasan batted well, making an unbeaten 35 off 22 balls, with some innovative shots, but the result by then was a foregone conclusion. Yasir Shah took two wickets in the 18th over before Mustafizur got two of his own as the Sylhet innings was wrapped up. Dhaka had dropped three catches but, as it turned out, the lapses did not affect them much.