Bangladesh defeats Sri Lanka by a huge margin to stay alive in the series
After the day before yesterday’s heart-breaking loss, the Tigers came back to the series with a convincing victory by 8 wickets and with 11 balls the spare. Winning the toss for the second time in a row, Bangladesh opted to ball first once again at the beautiful ground of Sylhet. Sri Lanka however, couldn’t manage to accumulate a bigger score like the previous one. After Avishka’s early dismissal by Taskin Ahmed, two Mendises – Kusal and Kamindu gathered 66 runs in a vital 2nd wicket partnership. Afterward, part-time bowler Soumya Sarker sent Kusal to the dressing room as the Lankan ace bowler scored a quick 36 runs off 22 balls.
Kamindu returned and ran out after 6 balls as well. Although Asalanka and former captain Angelo Mathews played firing innings subsequently, the visiting side could give Bangladesh a target of 167 in the end. Shoriful was the key performer – didn’t get any wickets but delivered a maiden over in the first over and spent only 20 runs after 4 overs of bowling. Taskin, Mahedi, Soumya, and Mustafiz got 1 wicket each but except Soumya, all of them bowled at an economy rate that passed 9.00.
Bangladesh had made the match one-sided since the beginning of their innings. The opening pair cemented a 68-run partnership before Pathirana dismissed Soumya. Within a gap of 13 balls, the same bowler drove Liton’s return. However, the Tigers didn’t have to look back as skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Tawhid Hridoy built another unbeaten partnership of 87 runs. Nazmul also secured his fifty by hitting Dasun Shanaka over the square leg area. Tawhid, on the other hand, remained not out at 32 after facing 25 deliveries.
Among 13 t20Is played at this ground only twice a team managed to defend their target and on both the occasions the target was more than 200. Besides, this is the second time Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in Bangladesh in T2os.
