The ongoing Bangladesh Premier League 2023 reaches its business end as four teams are in contention to book the final playoff berth during the last phase, scheduled to begin in Dhaka on Friday.

The 2017-edition champions Rangpur Riders are in the best possible position to complete the playoffs line-up after earning 10 points from eight matches and they will need only a victory in their last four league matches to confirm their place in the next round.
Table-toppers Sylhet Strikers earlier became the first team to qualify for the playoffs after clinching 16 points from 10 games while Fortune Barishal and reigning champions Comilla Victorians also joined them in the next round later on after bagging 12 points each from nine games.
Dhaka Dominators are currently in the fifth position of the points table with six points from 10 games and they need to win their remaining matches and also hope that Rangpur lose their remaining four games in order to see them through to the next round.
Khulna Tigers and Chattogram Challengers are in a similar position with four points from nine games each and to qualify for the playoffs, firstly they need to win all their remaining games and lastly, they need Rangpur to lose their all remaining matches.
The teams of the first qualifier and the eliminator matches are also to be decided in the last phase of the BPL as the positions of all current top four teams can change by the outcome of the remaining league stage matches.
But the bottom-placed three teams can qualify only as the fourth team of the league stage but looking at their current form, it seems quite unlikely. Khulna have lost their last four matches while Chattogram are winless in their last five games. Only Dhaka could win two out of their last three games in the ongoing meet.
Meanwhile, Sylhet opener Najmul Hossain Shanto is still leading the top run-getters chart with 356 runs in 10 matches while Dhaka skipper Nasir Hossain and Barishal skipper Shakib Al Hasan are in the next two positions after scoring 340 and 311 runs respectively.
Khulna pacer Wahab Riaz and Sylhet pacer Mohammad Amir have taken the highest number of 13 wickets so far while Nasir is also here in the bowlers’ top-three chart with 12 wickets in nine innings.
Barishal will face Khulna in the opening match of the last phase while Dhaka will take on Rangpur in the day’s other game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.