March 29, 2024, 4:31 pm


Nirmal Barman

Published:
2018-02-19 21:22:55 BdST

Sri Lanka win T20 series


FT ONLINE

After the tri-nation and Test series Sri Lanka also maintained their supremacy as the touring side won the two-match T20I series 2-0 beating Bangladesh by 75 runs in the second and final T20I match held on Sunday at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

Chasing a massive winning target of 211 runs, Bangladesh found the chase stiff and finally dismissed at 135 in 18.4 overs.

Bangladesh faced early trouble as opener Soumya Sarkar backed to the pavilion without disturbing the scoreboard while Mushfiqur Rahim who played his career best innings in the first match, fell to Madushanka for 6 and after that Bangladesh slipped 68 for 5 and could not recover from their early collapse.

The highlights of Bangladesh dilapidated innings was Mahmudullah’s 41 runs. Opener Tamim Iqbal, who backed in the side in the second match, added 29 run to his name as wickets fell in regular intervals in the face of tight bowling display by the Sri Lankan bowlers.

Skipper Mahmudullah kept the scoreboard running with 41 runs but he fall victim of run out by Udana. Mohammad Saifuddin and Mehedi Hasan were the other batsmen able to reach the double figure.

MD Gunathilaka and DSK Madushanka shared two wickets each conceding 3 and 23 runs respectively.

Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka was named the man of the match and man of the series for his impressive performance.

In the first match, Bangladesh won by six wickets in Dhaka.

Earlier, openers shine as Sri Lanka have set a daunting target of 211 for Bangladesh, after they were put to bat first by Bangladesh.

In the first international match in this venue, the Tigers opted to bowl, but the Tigers bowlers could not justice to their captain’s selection, failing to form a deadly attack.

Sri Lanka were off to a auspicious start courtesy of their two openers Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka, which resulted in a massive target for Bangladesh to level the series against Sri Lanka who already leading the series 1-0.

The helpless Tigers’ bowlers hardly showed any game-plan and were punished brutally all square of the park by the aggressive batting of Gunathilaka and Mendis. None of the Sri Lankan batsmen showed any sympathy and they punished whatever came their way.

While aggressive batting is Gunathilaka’s natural style, Mendis broke his shell to match up to his partner, smashing 70 off 42 with the help of six boundaries and three over boundaries at a strike rate over 166.

Soumya Sarkar gave Bangladesh their first breakthrough, breaking the 98-run opening stand and sending Gunathilaka back for 42 when the damage is already down. However, this barely affected the scoring rate. Mendis was joined by Thisara Perera in the middle and both kept scoring fast.

Even after the dismissals of Mendis and Perera, Dasun Shanaka (30 n.o) and Upul Tharanga (25) kept the scorecard running. Sri Lanka finished with 210 for 4 on the board in pursuit of consecutive series win.

Bangladesh debutant Abu Jayed, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin and Soumya Sarkar all shared one wicket each for Bangladesh.

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