The role of a finisher is one of the most unforgiving jobs in all of cricket, for they are the wins remembered for wins and blamed for losses. Nurul Hasan found himself in a similar situation in Sylhet on Thursday with the odds skewed massively against him, only to end up achieving the unfathomable.
Seeking to keep their unbeaten run in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League season intact, Rangpur Riders opted to field first against Fortune Barishal in Sylhet in their sixth round fixture. The decision seemed to have backfired when they were set a massive target of 198 on the back of a scintillating 29-ball 61 from Kyle Mayers before four wickets in the space of six balls late into the chase left the Riders reeling at 172/7, with one over to go and 26 runs to obtain. Barishal skipper Tamim Iqbal handed the Kookaburra to Mayers who seemed could do little wrong on the day, having conceded just three runs in his only over, while Nurul Hasan had the unenviable task of trying to sneak a win from the jaws of defeat having just faced a delivery till the point. What followed was one of the greatest heists in the history of T20 cricket.
Mayers began with a straight low full toss and Nurul bent low to get under the ball and heave it over midwicket for a handsome six. The West Indian decided to dig a slower one into the deck but his counterpart had more than anticipated it as he waited for the ball to arrive patiently before getting down on one leg and helping the ball over short fine leg for a boundary, thus bringing the equation down 16 off four deliveries. Under pressure, Mayers went for another cutter but this tiime a bit fuller, only to endure the same result as this time the white rock was whipped towards square leg for yet another four and suddenly, the momentum and odds both resided in the Riders’ favour. The wait between deliveries was much longer thereon as Mayers took a few seconds to regain his composure but it helped little as the Caribbean all-rounder ended up dishing a faster one right in the slot for Nurul to comfortably smack it towards the leg side for the second six of the over. With just six needed off two now, Nurul kept his calm and split the off-side ring field to perfection against another full delivery to leave just two runs required off the final delivery as the game reached a head. Mayers had no choice but to try and change things up and so he did with a shorter one albeit without the pace required to extract enough bounce from a dead surface. Nurul seemed to be waiting for it as he stood tall and emphatically pulled the ball into the second tier to complete the impossible.
The entire Riders team rushed onto the pitch in unbridled jubilation while Nurul calmly strut around, evidently in disbelief at what he had pulled off, and Twitterati was no different in their reactions.
Massive fight!
Sheer carnage!
𝘼𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙖! 🍿
Rangpur Riders were all but out of the contest until Skipper Nurul Hasan smashed 30 off the final over to pull off an incredible heist! 😵💫#BPLonFanCode pic.twitter.com/9A7R96fmhU— FanCode (@FanCode) January 9, 2025
Tamim Iqbal was furious with Alex Hales after Fortune Barisal’s loss.#BPL2025 #bplt20 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/Pnv9iq3XIS
— Mominul Islam (@MominulCric) January 9, 2025
Yeah!
Never expected this!
Things getting ugly!!! Fortune Barishal captain Tamim Iqbal has completely lost it and seen arguing with someone aggressively from Rangpur Riders side after the game. ⚔️@TamimOfficial28 @BCBtigers @bpl pic.twitter.com/lHOjhCl5Oa
— Sakib Hassan (@iamsakib01) January 9, 2025
Things getting ugly!!! Fortune Barishal captain Tamim Iqbal has completely lost it and seen arguing with someone aggressively from Rangpur Riders side after the game. ⚔️@TamimOfficial28 @BCBtigers @bpl pic.twitter.com/lHOjhCl5Oa
— Sakib Hassan (@iamsakib01) January 9, 2025
Angry on someone!
Great batter tho!
Tamim Iqbal becomes the first Bangladeshi batter to hit 8000 runs in T20 cricket. pic.twitter.com/KzcFeDPsSi
— Raisul Rifat (@raisul_rifat88) January 9, 2025
but beautiful batting Nurul Hassan there! https://t.co/ZCqS910fg4
— Shivani Shukla (@iShivani_Shukla) January 9, 2025
