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Sri Lanka trump Bangladesh in low-scoring 2nd T20 at Chittagong

Chasing a total of 121 runs to win, the tourists made heavy weather of a modest chase.

 

Kumar Sangakkara scored 37 in Sri Lanka's chase © AFP (File photo)
Kumar Sangakkara scored 37 in Sri Lanka’s chase © AFP (File photo)

 

Feb 14, 2014

 

Sri Lanka  beat Bangladesh by three wickets in a thrilling second Twenty20 International (T20I) at Chittagong on Friday.

 

Chasing a total of 121 runs to win, the tourists made heavy weather of a modest chase and achieved the target in the final over of their innings.

 

Earlier in the match, tidy bowling by the Lankans restricted hosts Bangladesh to 120.

 

After electing to bat first, Bangladesh were unable to get any partnerships of note throughout the Innings. In a surprise move, Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal asked Tillakaratne Dilshan to bowl the first over of the match and the move was vindicated when he removed Shamsur Rahman, caught by Chandimal himself.

 

Continuing from his heroics in the first T20I, Anamul Haque tore into the bowling in the first powerplay and looked set for yet another half-century but wickets tumbled regularly around him. Tamim Iqbal soon followed Shamsur and Shakib Al Hasan, yet again perished after a blazing start.

 

Sachitra Senanayake was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers and Anamul was removed by Sri-Lankan off-spinner.

 

Newcomer Sabbir Rahman tried in vain to hang around and accelerate the scoring but apart from captain Mashrafe Mortaza in the death overs, the Bangladesh batsmen looked clueless against Lasith Malinga and eventually folded out for 120 in the penultimate ball of the Innings.

 

Kusal Perera tried to finish the match all by himself at the start of the Innings but just like the hosts, the Lankans too lost wickets at regular intervals with captain Mashrafe Mortaza leading from the front. Mortaza also rotated his bowlers smartly and didn’t allow Sri Lankans to settle down and weather the storm.

 

Kumar Sangakkara continued his remarkable form in the series and held for while regular wickets reduced Sri Lanka to 50 for six at one stage.

 

However the lower order pair of Thisara Perera and Senanayake played with caution mixed with the occasional slog shot to get Sri Lanka over the finishing line.

 

Senanayake was the man facing the last ball of the match bowled by Farhad Raza, Sri Lanka needed two runs to win and the Sri Lankan Off-Spinner calmly tucked it behind square leg for a boundary and Bangladesh were left heartbroken in a last ball finish for the second time in a row.

 

Brief scores:

 

Bangladesh 120 in 19.5 overs (Anamul Haque 24, Sabbir Rahman 26, Mashrafe Mortaza 17; Lasith Malinga 3 for 20, Sachitra Senanayake 2 for 11) lost to Sri Lanka (Kusal Perera 21, Kumar Sangakkara 37, Thisara Perera 35*; Mashrafe Mortaza 2 for 29, Shakib Al Hasan 1 for 8) by 3 wickets.

 

Full Scorecard

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