A sensational innings from Mushfiqur Rahim, where he scored an unbeaten 72 from 35 balls, took Bangladesh past Sri Lanka’s 214/6 to victory with five wickets in hand and two balls to spare in the third match of the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 International triangular series at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
Batting first, Sri Lanka rode on half-centuries from Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera and a late surge from Upul Tharanga to put up a strong total, but Bangladesh were on top of the chase from the word go and got where they needed to in spectacular fashion to throw the series wide open – all three teams, India the third, have won one each after one round of matches.
The chase started in spectacular fashion for Bangladesh, as they looked intent on finishing things off in a hurry. Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das, promoted to the top of the order, were in the zone straightaway, treating the packed stands to a run fest.
The first two overs went for 10 runs each, and Das and Iqbal stepped it up with 13, 16 and 16 in the next three, sending the ball to the ropes six times and over it on four occasions in the process, as the fifth over ended with 65 runs on the board.
Iqbal did most of the four-hitting, while Das got four only when his attempt at clearing the fence didn’t come off, and the rollicking partnership came to an end in anti-climactic fashion when Nuwan Pradeep (2/37) trapped Das lbw. It was the last over of the Powerplay, and Das had picked up the fourth ball off his legs and sent it soaring over the deep square-leg fence for his fifth six before Pradeep pitched one full and straight, and Das played all around it to be caught plumb in front. His 43 came off just 19 balls, and included two fours to go with the five sixes.
The Powerplay ended with Bangladesh on 74/1, and they were certainly in pole position. Iqbal kept the good work going, getting to 47 before another tame dismissal gave Sri Lanka reason to cheer again – a short ball from Thisara Perera seemed to stop on Iqbal and he chipped a dolly back to the bowler to leave on 47, scored off 29 balls with six fours and two sixes.
Soumya Sarkar had settled in by then, and Mushfiqur Rahim walked in all gung-ho, and the momentum didn’t slip at all from Bangladesh’s point of view.
Sarkar played his part with a 22-ball 24 before top-edging an attempted pull off Pradeep, but Rahim was at his inventive best by then, playing his reverse sweeps, lap shots and paddles, and moving around in the crease to throw the bowlers off their lengths and lines, and hitting the glory shots to keep the chase on track. Mahmudullah, the Bangladesh captain, was also in good touch, and there was no let up in the punishment for the Sri Lankans.
Mahmudullah fell for an 11-ball 20, and Sabbir Rahman was run out for a duck, but there was no stopping Rahim. Mehidy Hasan played the quiet partner as Rahim, struggling after suffering cramps, kept the big shots coming, and eventually took his team to victory. His innings included five fours and four sixes, and it was a fine exhibition in T20 hitting all the way through.
Earlier, the two Kusals led Sri Lanka towards a big total, and Tharanga provided the finishing touches with a 15-ball 32* to ensure the home side went into the break the happier of the two contestants.
Danushka Gunathilaka and Mendis got Sri Lanka off to a flyer, Taskin Ahmed getting the worst of the onslaught as he conceded 13 and 22 in his first two overs, and the fifty of the innings came up in less than four overs. Immediately after, though, Mustafizur Rahman found a way through to hit Gunathilaka’s stumps with a slower cutter to send the opening batsman back for a 19-ball 26.
That was off the third ball of the fifth over, and it took Bangladesh till the second ball of the 13th over to taste success again, when one wicket brought two for Mahmudullah, Mendis sent back first and Dasun Shanaka falling for a duck in the same over.
But, before that, Mendis and Perera had a party after Bangladesh initially keeping the pair quiet once the Powerplay overs ended. Mendis brought up his half-century – his third in four innings – in 26 balls even as Sri Lanka ended the 12-over mark at 123 with Perera in flow.
It is generally accepted that a team can double their score in the last eight overs of a T20 innings, but that didn’t quite happen on this occasion as Bangladesh fought back. It was started by their captain, and even as Perera threatened to blitz away, Taskin came back to send back Dinesh Chandimal, the Sri Lanka captain, for 2.
Sri Lanka were 150/4 with five overs left, and that’s when Tharanga joined Perera and lifted the scoring rate again. Rubel Hossain was the first to suffer, conceding 17 runs in the 16th over as Tharanga hit him for two fours and a six, and the runs kept coming after that till the game had a most exciting final over of the innings, bowled by Mustafizur. It started with Sri Lanka at 198/4, and had two wide balls and a no ball, a four and a six, and two wickets – of the two Pereras, Kusal and Thisara – before ending at 214/6.
In the end, it wasn’t enough as Das, Iqbal and Rahim played outstanding hands.
The next match in the series will be played between Sri Lanka and India on Monday.
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