DHAKA, – Nazmul XI captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat first against Tamim XI in sixth and last game of group phase of the BCB President’s Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

The match turned out to be a virtual semifinal for Tamim Iqbal-led side, who must win the game to seal the final spot.

A defeat against Nazmul XI would eliminate Tamim XI from the race of the final straightway. No equation will be needed in case of Tamim XI’s defeat but a victory of the Tamim Iqbal-led side would mean that every three teams finish the group phase with two wins. In that case, net-run-rate will determine the two finalists of the tournament.

According to net-run-rate, Nazmul XI is in advantageous position. And they are in such a good position that only an extremely bad game could eliminate that from the final race.

Ahead of the crucial game, Tamim XI dropped Tanzid Hasan Tamim, who scored single digit figure in last three games. Akbar Ali replaced him. Nazmul XI however dropped Saif Hasan.

Tamim XI so far played three matches-losing two and winning one. Their both loses came against Mahmudullah XI-while they conceded a five-wicket defeat to Mahmudullah XI in the first match, in return-leg match, they tasted a four-wicket defeat. They however beat Nazmul XI by 42 runs to seal their only victory so far.

Nazmul XI also played three matches and while they won both of their matches against Mahmudullah XI, they lost their only match to Tamim XI. They want to fix their record right against Tamim XI.

Line Ups:

Tamim XI: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mohammad Mithun, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Akbar Ali Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mohidul Ankan, Mustafizur Rahman. Syed Khaled Ahmed

Nazmul XI: Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Soumya Sarkar, Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Ridoy, Irfan Shukkur, Parvez Hossain Emon, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Abu Jayed Rahi, Nasum Ahmed, Rishad Ahmed.