Chattagram: Comilla Victorians rose to the top of the points table of Bangladesh Premier League with an easy win over Khulna Titans on Monday.

Riding on Evin Lewis’ century and Wahab Riaz’s incredible hat-trick, Victorians outplayed their opponents by 80 runs at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, reports the UNB.

The day’s victory helped the former BPL champions take a solo lead in the league table for the first time. 

Batting first, the Victorians posted 237, the second-highest team total in BPL history. Rangpur Riders had scored 239 against Chittagong Vikings on January 25 at the same venue.

In response, Titans tumbled for 157 in 18.5 overs. 

Left-arm Pakistani pacer Riaz took a hat-trick in 19th over. He scalped David Wiese, Taijul Islam and Saddam Hossain in the third, fourth and fifth ball of the over0. 

He finished his spell taking three wickets for 14 runs in 2.4 overs. Shahid Afridi also bagged three wickets while Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehedi Hasan and Thisara Perera took one each. 

Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwean recruit of the Titans, offered some resistance hitting 50 off 33. Apart from him, Junaid Siddique (27) and Carlos Brathwaite (22) also tried their best with the bat but their efforts were not enough to reach the mammoth target. 

In the first innings, left-handed batsman Lewis struck 109 off 49 balls with five fours and 10 massive sixes after being sent to bat first.

Victorians had a solid start with Tamim Iqbal and Lewis. Tamim fell for 25 off 29 balls. The team was suddenly under pressure after losing the second wicket of Anamul Haque Bijoy in the next ball. Both wickets were taken by Mahmudullah Riyad. 

Lewis and Imrul Kayes added 97 runs before Kayes fell prey to Shariful Islam. The Victorians captain posted 39 off 21 with four fours and two sixes, coming in to bat at number four. 

Afridi disappointed the fans scoring one off two balls. 

In the sixth wicket stand, Lewis and Shamsur Rahman added 59 runs. While Lewis remained unbeaten for 109, Shamsur was not out at 28 off 15 balls. 

For the Titans, Mahmudullah and Carlos Brathwaite took two wickets each while Shariful bagged the other wicket. 

Victorians will play their next game against Chittagong Vikings on January 29 while Titans will face Dhaka Dynamites on February 2 which will be their last match of the sixth season.