Bangladesh gets a flying start in the World Cup

Yup, that’s it! The Bangladesh Tigers beat the Lankan Lions by 2 wickets with 6 balls in hand. But how breathtaking it was at the same time since the Lankans outplayed Bangladeshis in both power plays. With the bat, they accumulated 53 runs with a loss of 2 batters. Two ace bowlers – Taskin and Shakib conceded 3 & 4 fours in their very fast overs. Besides, as usual,  the Bangladeshi top order collapsed within no time as Tamim, Souyma and Shanto scored merely 10 runs altogether.

However, Liton stayed calm and gave company to Tawhid Hridoy who hammered 40 with a whooping 200 strike rate. After hitting Sri Lankan skipper hat-trick sixes on the first 3 balls of the 12th over, Tawhid was trapped for lbw. That hit also slowed Bangladesh’s run rate as the Team Tigers were chasing a comfortable target of 125 runs. Lankans made a comeback to the match again with Hasaranga removing Liton for another lbw. Subsequently, Pathirana got rid of Shakib Al Hasan when Thikshana took a spell-binding catch in the deep third. Thushara tested the Tigers once again after the tremendous performance in March. After claiming the wickets of Tanzid Tamim and Nazmul Hossain, he bowled Rishad in the third ball of the 18th over and trapped Taskin for a lbw in the next bowl. Both of the teams had their chance back then.

But the problem arose for Hasaranga as he had to opt for a 5th bowler after the main bowlers completed their spell. Shanaka started with a full toss which wasn’t missed by Mahmudullah Riyad – the lonely warrior for Bangladesh on many such nights. Tanzim Hasan Sakib stayed beside him and in the last ball of the over the Silent Killer created another history as this was the first T20 victory against Sri Lanka in the World Cup for Bangladesh – who were being taunted by the Lankan fraternity for a long time.

Before that, Bangladeshi bowlers also did their parts since Lankans got a firing start – Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka were charging from the very beginning. Kusal stuck two fours from the first two bowls of Taskin only to get bowled in the third delivery. Mustafiz also took the responsibility to remove Kamindu Mendis (5.1 over) and Nissanka (8.5 over). Although Kamindu got out scoring 4 runs Nissanka hammered 47 already by then. With the dismissal of top-order batters, Bangladeshi bowlers put more pressure on the Lankans. By the the end of the 14th over Sri Lanka was 100/3 and looking to set a competitive target. But Rishad got rid of Charith Asalanka and the skipper Hasaranga in the next two deliveries. One got caught by Shakib in the deep backward square and the other one was caught in the slip. He returned in the 17th over and sent Dhananjaya back to the pavilion. Taskin, Fizz and Tanzim also limited the run rate while taking more wickets. Rishad, Taskin and Mustafiz spent 3+3+2=8 runs between 17-19th overs. With the 7 runs that Tanzim gave away in the last over, Lankans could put only 124 runs by 9 in 20 overs.

Sri Lanka is now at the bottom of the table while with the precious 2 points, Bangladesh has hope for the Super-eight. On the day after tomorrow, the Tigers will face strong South Africa at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York at 8:30 PM according to Bangladeshi Standard Time. But the question persists, when will the top orders start playing responsible innings?

Group D (Bangladesh’s POV)