Fortune Barishal climbed to the top of the points table of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League after they beat Chattogram Challengers by three wickets during their eighth match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Anamul Haque Bijoy struck a brilliant 78 off 50 balls in Barishal’s chase of 169 runs but it was Karim Janat, who made a quick-fire 31 off 12 balls and put up a 50-run stand with Salman Hossain (18 not out) for the seventh wicket to guide Barishal to 171-7 in 19.2 overs to complete their sixth win in the tournament.

Barishal now have 12 points from eight matches – the same points as Sylhet Strikers in the seven-team points table but they are ahead of them by virtue of a better net run rate.

Meanwhile, it was Chattogram’s sixth defeat in the tournament – fourth in a row – and they remained in sixth position with four points from eight matches.

Chasing a decent total, Barishal got off to a brilliant start as openers – Anamul and Saif Hassan (10) gave them a 48-run stand before the latter was dismissed by Mehedi Hasan Rana.

After the dismissal, Barishal lost their way in the game and wickets started to fall at regular intervals from one hand.

Chattogram’s left-arm spinner Nihaduzzaman dismissed Shakib Al Hasan (two), Mahmudullah (0), Chaturanga de Silva (three) and Iftikhar Ahmed (13) in the game and finished with a career-best bowling figure of 4-17.

However, Karim and Salman then provided a brilliant batting display to take Barishal home with four balls to spare.