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Dhaka: Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, and Al-Amin Hossain combined to strangle Sri Lanka’s chase as Bangladesh won by a comfortable 23 runs in Asia Cup T20 at Dhaka on Sunday.
Sri Lanka got off to a good start in their chase of 148, with new opener Dinesh Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan putting on 20 in three overs.
The out-of-form Dilshan hit a couple of sizzling boundaries but fell to a terrific catch from Soumya Sarkar in Shakib Al Hasan’s first over.
Sarkar made amends with the catch after previously dropping Chandimal in Taskin Ahmed’s first over. Dilshan had scored 12 off 9 balls.
Shehan Jayasuriya came in to bat at No. 3, and put on a well-paced 56 with Chandimal. For as long as Jayasuriya and Chandimal were in the middle Sri Lanka were in complete control of the chase.
However, from 76 for 1 in 11 overs Sri Lanka crashed to 92 for 5 in 15 overs. Chandimal was the first to go, top-edging a reverse sweep off Mahmudullah to Taskin Ahmed in the deep. Jayasuriya was out in the next over, stumped off a wide ball from Shakib Al Hasan. Bangladesh were charged up now, and the fielding reflected their confidence.
Earlier, Sabbir Rahman scored a tremendous 80 off 54 balls to lead Bangladesh to a challenging 147 for 7.
Angelo Mathews, captaining Sri Lanka in Lasith Malinga’s absence, opened bowling as well and struck with his second delivery. Mohammad Mithun, who scored a good 47 in Bangladesh’s last match against UAE, was trapped LBW for a two-ball duck.
Sabbir walked in at No. 3 but soon saw the back of Soumya Sarkar, who hit one from Nuwan Kulasekara to Mathews for a 3-ball duck.
Bangladesh were 6 for 2 at the end of the third over when Sabbir first showed a sign of things to come. He whacked Kulasekara for four, six, four, and four off the first four deliveries of the next over as Bangladesh suddenly gained momentum out of nowhere.
Shakib Al Hasan came in at No. 5, and Sabbir finally found a partner to give him some company. Sabbir did not allow Mushfiqur’s dismissal to affect him, hitting Thisara Perera for three consecutive boundaries in the very next over.
Brief scores
Bangladesh - 147 for 7 (Sabbir 80, Shakib 32, Chameera 3-30)
Sri Lanka - 124 for 8 (Chandimal 37, Al-Amin 3-34, Shakib 2-21)
Result - Bangladesh won by 23 runs
Points - Bangladesh 2, Sri Lanka 0
MOM - Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh)
