At Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today, Bangladesh’s captain Najmul Hossain Shanto came back into form just when it needed most. He guided his team to a convincing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Twenty20 match, helping the team even the three-match series.
In order to speed up the triumph, Shanto, who had been struggling since the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), struck for 38 balls at 53 not out with four fours and two sixes. This knock enabled the team to chase down Sri Lanka’s 165-5 with 170-2 in 18.1 overs.
The captain struck a massive six off Dasun Shanaka over deep backward square to highlight both the victory and his fourth half-century.
With two fours and one six, Towhid Hridoy was on 32 off 25.
Hridoy and Shanto tore away the Sri Lankan bowling in perfect form, adding 87 runs in an undefeated third wicket. After an exciting match, Bangladesh lost the first game by three wickets.
With a combined score of 68 runs in 6.5 overs, openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar gave the hosts a strong start.
The partnership was broken by pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who took both of Bangladesh’s lost wickets for 28 runs. With a short ball, Pathirana had Sarkar caught by Angelo Mathews at midwicket.
After a review that stunned the Sri Lankan players, Soumya managed to survive and score 26.
Das was similarly removed by Pathirana’s short ball after he had scored 24 runs off of 36 balls.
Hridoy and Shanto then played sedately to bring up the victory in comprehensive manner.
Bangladesh bowlers also bowled in disciplined to contribute in the victory. Kamindu Mendis made team-high 37 while Kusal Mendis scored 36.
Angelo Mathews added 32 not out and stand-in captain Charith Asalanka chipped-in-with a typically aggressive 28 off 14.
Sri Lanka needed eight balls to open the scoreboard after put into bat first with pacer Shoriful Islam bowling a maiden over. Taskin then broke through, giving a struggling Avishka Fernando a seven-ball duck but two Mendis’-Kamindu and Kusal-formed a dangerous partnership, which put Sri Lanka in the track of yet another big total.
As they appeared to cause more havoc, the breakthrough came from an unlikely source. Occasional bowler Soumya Sarkar dismissed Kusal Mendi after he hit two fours and three sixes in his 22 ball-36, ending the 66 runs partnership. This was Kusal’s first knock less then 50 after three innings against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh then got two wickets in quick succession to take the baton of the game with Kamindu Mendis being trapped run out while Sadeera Samarawickrama, the half-centurion of the first match giving return catch to Mustafizur Rahman after scoring 7.
As Sri Lanka applied intense pressure, Asalanka, who hit six sixes in his 21 ball-44 not out in the previous game, found his rhythm fast. But before he could cause any more havoc, offspiner Mahedi Hasan took him out of the game to put the team back in contention.
The spinners for Bangladesh then did a good job of keeping Dasun Shanaka and Mathews off any big hits in the final overs, restricting Sri Lanka to a score that seemed easily reachable.
Despite only playing 37 balls, Shanaka and Mathews combined for 53 runs in an undefeated sixth wicket. Shanaka had one four and one six on 20 off 18 and was not out.
