In exciting Dallas, Bangladesh defeats Sri Lanka by two wickets: At the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Saturday, Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling T20 World Cup Group D match, capping off another chapter in a legendary rivalry.
Bangladesh started strong in a tough group with their first World Cup victory over Sri Lanka in three encounters. Najmul Shanto, the captain of Bangladesh, was initially made to regret his choice to bowl on a bouncy pitch.
On a solid field, Sri Lanka’s opener Pathum Nissanka met the ball with accuracy while the Bangladeshi seamers fed on stump-to-stump lines. As his top-order colleagues Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis were removed by Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman during the Powerplay, Nissanka shot off with seven fours and two sixes, covering a considerable portion of the arc from long-on to deep mid-wicket. Before Bangladesh quickly caught up to their bitter rivals, the islanders were making rapid progress.
Young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain wove a web around the middle order with three wickets in his four-over performance, while Mustafizur forced Nissanka (47) into an erroneous slog. As a result, Sri Lanka dropped from 70 for two to a languid finishing position of 124.
Bangladesh’s response did not start well either, as Soumya Sarkar and Tanzid Hasan both fell in the first two overs of the innings. Shanto, the skipper, did not falter either, falling on seven of his thirteen deliveries. But Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy’s third-wicket counterattack pulled Bangladesh back into the chase. The chase was facilitated by Hridoy’s fast counterattack, which featured three straight sixes off Sri Lanka skipper Wanindu Hasaranga.
Despite a late scare from seamers Nuwan Thushara, who claimed two consecutive wickets in the 18th over, Sri Lanka was short-handed when it came to lead bowling. Ultimately, with one over remaining, veteran Mahmudullah guided a weak lower-order to get Bangladesh beyond the finish line.
Now that they have dropped their last two games, Sri Lanka is at the bottom of the group. They will play Nepal in Florida on Wednesday. On Monday, Bangladesh will play South Africa, the winners of the group, in New York.
