[Eshen]

Big-hitting foreigners hold the key in BPL final

The chances of the BPL final being a one-sided affair are fairly high. If even one of Dhaka Dynamites' departments - either the top-order batsmen or the spin bowlers - fire full throttle, then Rangpur Riders will struggle in the finale. At the same time, if Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum or Johnson Charles repeat what they did earlier in the playoffs, Dhaka could very well be out of the contest quite early.

Evin Lewis, Joe Denly, Shahid Afridi and Sunil Narine have struck 56 sixes among them, and have batted at a strike-rate of 144.61. Every time they have fired with the bat, Dhaka have cruised to victory. Afridi and Narine also form part of Dhaka's three-man spin attack including the captain Shakib Al Hasan, and the trio has been relentless through the season.

Gayle, Charles and McCullum have come late to the party, but they have peaked at the right time for Rangpur. Gayle and Charles have both scored hundreds in the qualifiers while McCullum hammered nine sixes in his whirlwind 78 in the second of those matches. Gayle has a bit of an ankle injury concern but according to Mashrafe Mortaza, it is nothing he can't shake off.

Pitch and conditions

The Mirpur pitches have been mostly under covers due to the steady drizzle of the last few days. There has been some improvement in the bounce of the pitches, according to some players. Rain is likely to stay away on the evening of the final.

Quotes

"We have a good bowling attack, and apart from the three spinners, [Abu Hider] Rony and Mosaddek [Hossain] has also bowled well this season. Our batting too has found consistency now. I think we have the overall consistency and momentum, and we will try to win the final."
Dhaka captain Shakib Al Hasan on how his spin attack is shaping up

"Among the four teams in the playoffs, we were the least favourite."
Mashrafe Mortaza, the Rangpur Riders captain, about their progress into the final