Sri Lanka sparkle to seal a share of the spoils
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The T20I match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh begun with the latter winning the toss and deciding to bat first. It seems like it was a great decision as Soumya Sarkar raised hell against the Lankan bowlers.
Debutant Zakir Hasan, however, scored 10 from 9 balls and showed great mentality to score those runs. He was scalped by Gunathilka as he tried to smash one too many.
Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim are on the crease right now. Soumya and Mushfiq stitched a 51-run stand. They kept rotating the strike, smashing the deliveries that need to be punished.
Soumya Sarkar picked up his half-century from just 30 deliveries. He smashed 6 boundaries and 2 over-boundaries to reach the landmark. The left-handed batsman got out scoring 51 off 32 balls as Jeevan Mendis trapped him lbw. Although the ball pitched outside leg-stump, the umpire raised his finger to end the carnage. Afif Hossain was also dismissed by the same bowler scoring none off 2 deliveries.
Afte these two quick exits, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad stood firm for the Tigers. Mushfiq showed a great deal of courage to lift the total past 150. He picked his fifty and finished the innings remaining unbeaten on 66 from 44 balls. Mahmudllah made 43 runs off 31 before Udana bagged his wicket. Together they built a 73-run partnership to take Bangladesh forward.
Sabbir Rahman failed to impress once again as he was out bowled by Perera scoring only 1 run. Ariful Haque remained not out scoring 1 run.
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Coming on the pitch to chase the big total, Sri Lanka exhibited a great deal of aggression while facing the Bangladesh bowling attack. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka's cameo of 30 from15 deliveries gave the visitors a great start. He was sent back to the hut by debutant Nazmul Islam.
Kusal Mendis was doing well to carry on with the momentum that his opening partner offered. He picked up his fifty too and scored 53 off 27 before Afif dismissed him.
Upul Tharanga could not manage to score more than 4 runs until Nazmul Islam bagged his wicket. Bangladesh did not need much time to grab another wicket as Rubel Hossain scalped the wicket of Niroshan Dickwell on 11 runs.
Dasun Shanaka and Thisara Perera then offered stability to the Lankan team. They did not allow further wicket-falls and strung the match defining partnership of 65 runs. Shanaka picked up 42 runs from 24 deliveries while Thisara clubbed 39 off 18 following a splendid batting display.
Sri Lanka won the match by 6 wickets, with 20 balls remaining. They are now leading the 2-match series by 1-0.
Score:
Bangladesh - 193/5 (20 overs)
Sri Lanka - 130/4 (after 12.2 overs)
Sri Lanka needs 64 runs from 46 deliveries.
Toss: Bangladesh opt to bat
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Zakir Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah(c), Mohammad Saifuddin, Ariful Haque, Nazmul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Niroshan Dickwella(w), Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal(c), Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Akila Dananjaya, Shehan Madushanka, Isuru Udana