DALLAS: The Sri Lanka and Bangladesh rivalry once again lived up to the expectations of the spectators as the Tigers left the Lions dazes with a nail-biting two-wicket win at the Grand Prairie Stadium in the ongoing T20 World Cup on Friday (local time).
It was a clash where anticipation was brimming before every delivery. Momentum changed within the blink of an eye and fans were sitting still at the edge of their seats praying for their team to win.
After restricting Sri Lanka to a paltry score of 124/9, Nuwan Thushara and Dhananjaya de Silva made early inroads and delivered two quick blows to Bangladesh. Soumya Sarkar fell in the first over for a two-ball duck while Tanzid Hasan (3) was back in the dugout in the next over.
Litton Das came in and batted sensibly while Towhid Hridoy took up the mantle of scoring at a brisk pace. Their 63-run stand lifted Bangladesh from 28/3 to 91/4 and handed them control over the game. But Sri Lanka showed grit and bounced back with skipper Wanindu Hasaranga leading the attack.
Hasaranga removed both set batters to raise hope of an unprecedented victory for the Lions. In the 11th over, Hridoy struck three consecutive towering sixes to remove the scoreboard pressure off Bangladesh’s shoulders. But Hasaranga had the last laugh, he removed Hridoy (40) by deceiving him with variation and trapped him in front of the stumps.
Litton fell similarly after he failed to read through Hasaranga’s trickery. In the next couple of overs, Bangladesh’s back was up against the wall. Matheesha Pathirana picked up experienced Shakib Al Hasan’s wicket. Nuwan Thushara claimed back-to-back wickets in the 18th over, raising Sri Lanka from the ashes.
With 11 needed off the final two overs, Dasun Shanaka was handed the task of bowling the penultimate over. Mahmudullah kept his composure and cleared the ropes on the first ball to make the equation in their favour. He scored the winning runs on the final ball to seal a two-wicket win for his side.
Earlier in the innings, after Bangladesh put Sri Lanka to bat, the duo of Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain took apart the batting unit. The duo derailed Sri Lanka’s batting order to restrict them to 124/9. They claimed a three-wicket haul each which allowed Bangladesh to exercise control in the first half of the game. Pathum Nissanka was the sole batter who showed a fight for Sri Lanka with his knock of 47(28).
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 124/8 (Pathum Nissanka 47; Mustafizur 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) vs Bangladesh 125/8 (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Nuwan Thushara 4-18). (ANI)