Bangladesh returned to the series with a big win against Sri Lanka. Welcoming Bangladesh back to parity in the T20 series, Sri Lanka faced a significant defeat, losing by 8 wickets at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on yesterday.
In the second match of the T20 series, Bangladesh reached victory with 2 wickets lost and 11 balls to spare. The start of Bangladesh’s batting was phenomenal, scoring 28 runs in the first three overs. The fourth over, bowled by B.Fernando, sparked controversy when the umpire initially signaled a wide but later declared Soumya Sarkar out caught by the wicketkeeper. Soumya Sarkar reviewed the decision, and despite seeing a spike on the UltraEdge, the third umpire ruled not out, stating that the ball had brushed the bat. This led to a brief moment of dissatisfaction from Sri Lankan cricketers and the dugout.
Subsequently, in the powerplay, openers Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das took control, scoring 63 runs in six overs. However, Soumya got out in the first over after the powerplay, caught at the mid-wicket boundary by Pathirana, scoring 26 runs off 22 balls. Liton Das followed soon after, scoring 36 runs off 24 balls.
Captains Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy led the team to victory with an unbeaten partnership of 87 runs off 55 balls. Shanto completed the victory with a six, scoring 53 runs off 38 balls, while Hridoy remained not out with 32 runs off 25 balls.
Earlier, Shariful Islam made the first breakthrough in the fielding, taking a wicket in his first over. Taskin Ahmed capitalized on the next over, dismissing Abhishek Fernando for a duck.
Soumya Sarkar made a successful bowling change, breaking the partnership between Kushal and Kamindu Mendis, who scored 66 runs off 42 balls. Soumya’s spell included two fours and three sixes, conceding 36 runs in his four overs. Mahmudullah’s delivery resulted in the wicket of Kamindu Mendis after he scored 36 runs off 25 balls.
Mahedi Hasan’s delivery ended Samara’s innings, as he scored 7 runs off 11 balls. Mustafizur Rahman claimed a wicket, but Sri Lanka managed to reach a total of 165 runs. Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka contributed significantly to the final score, scoring 32 and 20 runs respectively, in an unbeaten partnership of 53 runs off 37 balls.
