After Mahmudul Hasan Joy struck a majestic unbeaten fifty Habibur Rahman Sohan popped up with the devastating batting as Khulna Tigers beat Fortune Barishal by six wickets in the last over thriller in the final tie of the league phase of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.

With the defeat, Barishal, who were previously in second place, fell to the bottom, among the four teams in the points table who will feature in the playoffs of the competition starting on February 12.

Barishal, who accumulated 14 points from 12 games in the league phase, now will encounter the Rangpur Riders in the eliminator on February 12 at 1:30 p.m. at the same venue.

With Joy smashing an undefeated 43-ball 61 and Habibur standing on a whirlwind 9-ball 30, hitting two fours and three maximums, Khulna breezed past Barishal’s 169-8 with three balls to spare.

Mohammad Saifuddin was the standout bowler for Khulna, scalping 4-20.

Opting to bat, Barishal managed the target courtesy of Dwaine Pretorious' 29-ball 48 and 28 off 29 from Anamul Haque Biljoy.

Chasing down the target, although Khulna suffered a blow by losing their top order trio for 76 inside the eleventh over, a 35-ball 55 and a 16-ball 41-run stand between Yasir Ali- Joy and Joy-Habibur in the third and fourth and wicket stand aided them to seal their third victory of the contest.