Published: Apr 06, 2017, 11:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 06, 2017, 11:52 PM (IST)
A clinical bowling performance from Bangladesh hands them a 45-run win against Sri Lanka in Mashrafe Mortaza’s final T20 International (T20I), despite Lasith Malinga’s hat-trick earlier in the day at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. With this win Bangladesh have levelled the two-match series 1-1. There has been absolutely nothing to separate these two teams on this tour. The Test and the ODI series too ended with the same result. Sri Lanka never got going in this match. They lost Kusal Perera, hero of the last game, for 4, and his opening partner Dilshan Munaweera was dismissed for the same score. Things got from bad to worse, when Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga for 23 and were soon reduced to 40 for 5 in just the sixth over. Full Cricket Scorecard: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, 2nd T20I at Colombo (RPS)
While Bangladesh scored 68 in their Powerplay overs without losing a wicket, Sri Lanka had lost 5 wickets with just 47 runs on the board. But that was when Chamara Kapugedara and Thisara Perera joined hands. They added 58 for the sixth wicket before Perera was stumped off Shakib Al Hasan. After that Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but Kapugedara fought a lone battle and brought up his fifty off just 34 deliveries. Unfortunately, he was dismissed in the next ball. From then it was just a matter of time before Bangladesh wrapped up the innings. Full Cricket Updates: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I
Mustafizur Rahman was excellent with ball. He finished with 4 for 21 from 3 overs. Shakib, too, was excellent throughout the match, following his 38 with 3 for 24 from 4, and was rightly named Man of the Match. Mortaza, too, picked up a wicket with his penultimate ball.
Earlier, despite Malinga’s hat-trick, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh had reached 176 for 9 in their 20 overs. They would have been disappointed at the break as they looked set to get a score close to 200. Soumya Sarkar, Shakib and Imrul Kayes got into the 30s, but nobody kicked on to get a big score on the board.
Following his spectacular comeback, Malinga was named Man of the Series.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 176 for 9 in 20 overs (Imrul Kayes 36, Shakib Al Hasan 38; Lasith Malinga 3 for 34, Asela Gunaratne 1 for 15) beat Sri Lanka 131 in 18 overs (Chamara Kapugedara 50, Thisara Perera 27; Shakib Al Hasan 3 for 24, Mustafizur Rahman 4 for 21) by 45 runs.
Player of the Match: Shakib Al Hasan.
Player of the Series: Lasith Malinga.
