In their match at the T20 World Cup in Dallas on Saturday, Bangladesh faced Sri Lanka. Batting first, the Lankans scored 124 runs for 9 wickets. Despite a rocky start, the Tigers began their T20 World Cup mission with a 2-wicket victory.
At the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain’s brilliant attack put Sri Lanka, who batted first, on the back foot. Along with controlled bowling, both took three wickets each.
As a result, Wanindu Hasaranga’s team could only put up a total of 124 runs for 9 wickets. The pressure of that score initially troubled the top-order batsmen Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, and captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto.
The red-green team lost 3 wickets for just 28 runs. Towhid Hridoy steadied the match with Liton Das at the fourth wicket. In a stormy batting display, Hridoy scored 40 runs in 20 balls for Bangladesh.
Thus, much of the worry was alleviated. In the 12th over, after hitting three consecutive sixes, Hridoy was LBW on the fourth ball by Wanindu Hasaranga (40 off 20 balls). At that point, Bangladesh’s score was 91 runs.
In the end, Bangladesh lost another 4 wickets for 19 runs, falling into the threat of defeat. Liton was LBW at 99 runs. At 109 runs, Shakib Al Hasan (8 off 14 balls) was caught by Thikshana at third man off Matheesha Pathirana.
Bangladesh then lost 2 more wickets at 113 runs. Rishad Hossain (1 off 3 balls) was bowled trying to hit a six off Nuwan Thushara. The next ball, Taskin Ahmed was trapped LBW. When the ball hit Taskin’s boot, the umpire did not respond to Thushara’s strong appeal. However, the review went in favor of the Lankans.
Finally, Bangladesh needed 11 runs off 12 balls. Mahmudullah hit a brilliant six on the first ball of the over from Dasun Shanaka, bringing the match under Bangladesh’s control. In that over, with one wide and two runs off the last ball, the Tigers achieved the needed 11 runs. This led to Bangladesh’s jubilant celebration.
