Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the first T20i of the two-match series held on Tuesday at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh scored a decent total of 155 for 6 from their allotted 20 overs with Mosaddek Hossain top scoring 34 runs followed by Mahmudullah (31) and Soumya Sarkar (29) .
Sri Lankan pacer Malinga was the most successful bowler as he bagged two Bangladesh’s wickets conceding 38 runs.
Chasing a winning target of 156 runs set by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka rode on opener Perera’s magnificent half century, reached home making 158 runs in 18.5 overs with six wickets in hand.
Wicket keeper Perera played an impressive knock of 77 off 53 balls laced with nine boundaries and one towering over boundary while skipper Upal Tharanga supported him with 24 runs off 23 balls that contained four fours.
Prasanna (22n.o) and Gunaratne (17) were the other notable scorers for the hosts.
Mashrafe Mortaza was the pick of Bangladesh bowler as he claimed two wickets giving away 32 runs.
The second and final T20I between the two sides will be held on Thursday (April 6).
