BAN vs SL | Tigers survive Thusara's miraculous death heroics to clinch low-scoring thriller

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk,SportsCafe Editor

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Bangladesh registered their first-ever T20 win over Sri Lanka in a major tournament in Dallas on Friday, by two wickets. Three wickets each for Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain restricted the Lions to 124 before the Tigers battled frequent setbacks to emerge victorious with an over to spare.

‌Brief score: BAN 125/8 (19) [Towhid 40(20), Litton 36(38); Thushara 4/18(4)] defeat SL 124/9 (20) [Nissanka 47(28), de Silva 21(26); Mustafizur 3/17(4)] by two wickets

After Sri Lanka were asked to bat first, Pathum Nissanka raced off the blocks with a flurry of boundaries, including four in one over off Shakib Al Hasan, to have the side well-placed at 53/2 at the end of the powerplay despite Kusal and Kamindu Mendis departing cheaply. However, a few tidy overs culminated in the opener slicing one straight to cover with the score reading 74/3 at the halfway stage. The pressure continued to increase as both Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva struggled to find the boundary and things came to head in the 15th over when Rishad Hossain snapped the less-than-run-a-ball 30-run stand, followed by the removal of Wanindu Hasaranga for a golden duck. The wrist-spinner then got rid of de Silva in his ensuing over and Sri Lanka were allowed no room for recovery thereafter. It eventually took a trademark Angelo Mathews anchoring knock of 19-ball 16 to take Sri Lanka to 124/9 in their 20 overs.

In response, the Lions got off to the perfect start with Dhananjaya de Silva scalping Soumya Sarkar for a silver duck in the opening over. Nuwan Thushara compounded the Tigers' misery with Tanzid Hasan's wicket in his opening effort and proceeded to dispatch skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto in the final over of the powerplay to restrict the rivals to 34/3. Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy stopped the bleeding with a stable partnership and managed to keep the scoreboard ticking quickly enough to keep the required rate around six. However, Hridoy decided to break the shackles in the 12th over with three handsome maximums on the trot against Hasaranga. Even though the Lankan captain had the final laugh by breaking the 63-run stand, the equation had whittled down to a nominal 33 off the final eight overs. However, just when the win seemed routine, Sri Lanka pegged themselves back into the hunt with the wickets of Litton and Shakib while keeping the scoring rate at bay. Twin strikes from Thushara in the 18th over suddenly saw the Lions take over the driving seat with 11 still required off the final two overs and just a couple of wickets remaining. Eventually, veteran Mahmudullah got the better of the nerves to guide his team home with an unbeaten 13-ball 16.

What a match

Never ever

It just never fails

Absolute thriller

Excellent

The greatest feud

El Clasico

Low scoring thriller

It never disappoints

Historic

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