2024-03-08 09:10:53
Nazmul Hossain Shantar will be fifty? Victory was within reach. The equation would have been easier for Shant if Tawheed had not hit a six off the spinner Thiksana. But Tawheed’s six came down to 2 runs off 11 balls. Shanta needs 3 runs to get his fifty.
Standing at 47 runs, the Bangladesh captain did not keep himself waiting. In the next over, Shanaka smashed the first ball through mid-wicket for a six. Picked up the first fifty of the year. First win after being given full captaincy. Bangladesh leveled the three-match T20 series with an 8-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh won the toss and sent Sri Lanka into bat first at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. This time Sri Lanka could not score more than 165 runs for 5 wickets in controlled bowling by the bowlers. In response, Bangladesh won the match very easily with 11 balls in hand.
Bangladesh had confidence as they scored more than 200 runs in the previous match. That confidence was further boosted by Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das’ brilliant start. The match took control on the power play itself. The two openers scored 63 runs in over ten runs. That’s why they got luck on their side. Because Soumya got life in the umpire’s not out decision.
Soumya failed to pull Binura Fernando’s short ball. After gently kissing his bat, the ball goes behind the wicket. The umpire gave out on Sri Lanka’s request. But Soumya took the review. Ultra Edge shows spikes as the ball moves past the bat. But the TV umpire said there was distance between the bat and the ball when the spike came. That’s why he got not out.
Soumya could not do anything great even though she was glowing with ‘jeevan paye’. Pathirana scored 26 off 22 balls with 5 boundaries before being caught by Mathews with a short ball. After losing his partner, Litton also returned quickly. A right-handed batsman who is out with short balls like Soumya. Caught on top of the bat at square leg. His innings ended at 36 off 24 balls with 5 fours and 1 six.
When Liton got out, Bangladesh were 83 for 2. The hosts needed 83 runs in the next 11 overs. That run came in the third wicket pair. Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Tawheed Hriday’s solid pair won Bangladesh very easily. In each attack, both batsmen scored runs without giving any chance to the opposition. In 36 balls, their pair’s runs reached fifty.
With aggressive batting, they took the team to the port of victory before 11 balls. Shanaka hit the ball for a six and got a quiet fifty. Joy gave the team a gift. He scored 53 runs off 38 balls. Hit 2 sixes with 4 fours. Tawheed scored 32 runs off 25 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. 87 runs came from their pair of 55 balls. The captain of Bangladesh also won the man of the match award for winning the team.
Earlier, Bangladesh had a great start in bowling. Shariful took Maiden in the first over. Avishka Fernando, who was a spectator to the left-arm pacer, took the wicket off Taskin in the second over. A length ball from Taskin tries to play it on the side and Avishkar sticks to the edge of the bat and goes up. Taskin took the return catch. The guests made a pair for the second wicket. Kamindu Mendis and Kushal Mendis picked up 49 runs in the power play to deal with the initial disaster. After their pair scored fifty runs, the scoreboard of the Lankans continued to advance rapidly.
Shanta broke the resistance by bringing in Soumya, a part-time bowler. Kushal took a catch behind the wicket while punching Soumya’s back of length delivery on the offside. He returned with 36 runs off 22 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes. After that, Sri Lanka quickly lost 2 more wickets. Kamindu settled down and was run out in a misunderstanding with new batsman Samarawickrama. Kamindu scored 37 runs off 27 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes before returning to the dressing room. Then Samaravikrama (7) caught Mustafiz’s simple ball.
Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka started storming the wicket. Mahedi hit two sixes in one over with long on and long off. However, Mahdi did not take time to take revenge. Asalanka was bowled while cutting the ball out of place on the wicket. He scored 28 runs off 14 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes. From there, Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka batted, Sri Lanka got fighting capital. Without giving a start, they made a pair of unbroken 53 runs off 37 balls. Mathews scored 32 runs off 21 balls. 20 runs came from 18 balls from Shanaka’s bat.
Bangladesh’s controlled bowling is the reason for not being able to make the expected storm at the end. In the previous match, the bowlers gave 70 runs in the last 5 overs. Today only 43 runs. That’s how Bangladesh achieved the goal of winning the match. Taskin, Mostafiz, Soumya and Mehdi got 1 wicket each. Shariful and Rishad did not get wickets but were not costly.
The series will be decided on March 9 at the same ground.