Sylhet strikers’ bowlers finished with tight bowling in the penultimate overs that powered them to join Comilla Victorians in the final as they beat Rangpur Riders by 19 runs in the second qualifier of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.

Luke Wood and Tanzim Hasan Sakib scalped three and two wickets, respectively, to restrict Rangpur to 163-7, who were chasing down a challenging 182-7.

Rony Talukdar scored the top score with 66 off 52 balls, while a 24-ball 33 came from Rangpur skipper Nurul Hasan Sohna’s bat.

Dasun Sanaka and Hasan Mahmud took two wickets each for the side.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and his partner made a steady start, going untroubled until 65 being sent to bat.

However, the duo lost their ways as the former was trapped leg before for a 30-ball 40 by Mahedi Hasan in 8.5 overs, after he lost a review.

In the second wicket stand, skipper Mashrafe Bin Morataza and his fellow teammate Towhid Hridoy added a 5-ball 12 before the latter fell to Hasan Mahmud for a-run-a-ball 25, which intensified pressure on the side.

However, Mashrafe kept playing the anchoring role to release the pressure, sharing a 20-ball 24 and a stormy 10-ball 31 with Zakir Hasan and Ryan Burl, respectively, prior to the dismissal of the latter duo for 16 off 13 and 15 off 6 balls by Sanaka, that shortened them to 132-4 in 14.4 balls.

Mashrafe followed in the footsteps of his outgoing teammates, falling to Dwayne Bravo for 28 off 16 balls, leaving the side on 134-5.

Then, riding on Thisara Perera and George Lindle’s 21 runs each off 15 and 10 balls, respectively, Sylhet managed an exciting total.

In reply, Rangpur made a shaky start, losing their top order Sam Billings and Shamim Hossain for 1 and 14 runs, respectively, by Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rubel Hosain inside the power play.

However, the former champions overcame their early woes thanks to a cracking 14-ball 30 from Nicholas Pooran before being removed by Like Wood, limiting them to 68-3 in 8.3 overs.

Then, in the fourth wicket stand, Rony and skipper Nurul Hasan shared a valuable 82 off 52 balls to drag the side close to victory before they were dismissed for 33 off 24 and a 52-ball total of 66 in 17.4 overs that inducing 150 that bounced Rangpur back in the game.

However, Sylhet bowlers continued their low-priced bowling until the final over, that eventually paved their way to sealing the victory.