Asia Cup T20, Match 5 Review: Sabbir, bowlers give Bangladesh an important win

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza decided to bat first against Sri Lanka in the home side’s crucial Asia Cup encounter in Mirpur. The hosts made good use of a pitch that looked different to the surfaces seen so far in the tournament and more like a typical Mirpur deck, with far less grass cover than the earlier games. A brilliant knock from Sabbir Rahman took his team to 147/7 that proved enough against a fragile batting lineup of the visitors. Bangladesh was unchanged from their first match against India. Angelo Mathews assumed Sri Lanka’s captaincy, with regular T20 captain Lasith Malinga ruled out with a knee injury. Thisara Perera took Malinga’s place.

The home side got off to a worse possible start when Mathews stuck with his 2nd ball in the opening over of the match. He pitched it on short of length outside off and got it to jag back in a fair bit that beat Mohammad Mithun (0) completely and found him plumb in front. The next over from Nuwan Kulasekara produced a leading edge off the bat of Soumya Sarkar (0) that reduced Bangladesh to 2/2 in 9 balls.

Sabbir Rahman (80 off 54) looked determined to break the shackles and hammered Kulasekara for 3 fours and a six in the 4th over to get things moving. The hosts though were further pegged back when a mix-up in the next over resulted in the run out of Mushfiqur Rahim (4).  Sri Lanka’s happiness was short-lived as Rahman hammered Thisara Perera for 3 boundaries in the next over to take the score to 41/3 at the end of the power play.

Shakib Al Hasan (32 off 34) and Rahman batted cautiously until the later decided to go wild in the 13th over. Shehan Jayasuriya bore the brunt and was spanked for 3 consecutive fours as the right-hander brought up his fifty. Rahman added few more big ones to his score before being dismissed in the 16th over by Chameera who also took the wicket of Shakib in the 18th. The talented pacer ended his spell with figures of 3/30 with the wicket of Nurul Hasan (2). Mahmudullah once again proved his worth with an unbeaten 23 off 12 including 2 fours and a 6 that took his team to a challenging total. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (2) was the last man out off the last ball of the innings attempting a second run.

The Sri Lankan innings could have got off to an identical start had Sarkar latched onto an easy catch in second slip. Dinesh Chandimal (37 off 37) played with an open face to a sharp delivery from Taskin Ahmed and was lucky to survive. The next over witnessed another drop as Mahmudullah, diving to his right from wide slip, failed to hold onto an edge from Tillakaratne Dilshan (12) off Al-Amin Hossain. Dilshan hit 2 fours in the next over however was deceived by Shakib and Sarkar managed to hold onto a spectacular catch this time.

Jayasuriya (26 off 21) walked in and spanked a four off the second delivery he faced and followed it up with a maximum in the next over. Chandimal also latched onto anything loose however looked scratchy in his knock. The two took the score to 76 before Mahmudullah broke the stand with the wicket of Chandimal off the last ball of the 11th over.

Shakib a bowled a short and wide one outside the off stump that had Jayasuriya stumped in the next over. This put the pressure firmly on the visitors as Bangladesh sensed an opening. Mustafizur Rahman bowled a perfect full-length delivery that trapped Perera (4)  plumb in front while Mortaza took the wicket of Siriwardana (3) to make it difficult for the islanders.

Al-Amin Hossain took the huge wicket of Mathews (12) in the 18th and finished the match with 2 more wickets, Shanaka (14) and Kulasekara (0) in the final over that gave his team their first T20I win over Sri Lanka. Chamara Kapugedera (12 not out off 7) was held back and the move heavily backfired on the visitors.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh: 147/7 in 20 overs (S Rahman 80; D Chameera 3/30)

Sri Lanka: 124/8 in 20 overs (D Chandimal 37; Al-Amin Hossain 3/34)

Man of the match: Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh)

How did Twitter react to Bangladesh’s historic win? – Twitter Reactions: Bangladesh thrash defending champions Sri Lanka in a thriller