Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, 1st T20I Review: Kusal Perera helps hosts cruise past Bangladesh

After showing great grit and competition in the Test and the ODI series, the Bangladesh side had their sights set on the T20I series. The hosts Sri Lanka knew they were up against a spirited Bangladeshi unit and the momentum was definitely with the visitors. Nobody had given them a chance to be strong competitors on the tour, but the way team Bangladesh leveled the Test series and ODI series saw a lot of eyebrows go up.

The only fact that Sri Lanka could take confidence was from their recent form in the shortest format of the game. Sri Lanka had won their overseas T20I series against South Africa and Australia. Amidst this scenario, the first T20I was played between the two sides at Colombo.

Coming in to the match, it was Mashrafe Mortaza who won the toss for the visitors and opted to bat first. They had the surprise inclusion of young spinner Mohammad Saifuddin and opted to rest Mehedi Hasan. On the other hand, Sri Lanka did not play their T20 specialist Lakshan Sandakan and went in with an extra pacer in Vikum Sanjaya.

In walked Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar to open the innings. It was on the very second delivery of the match when Lasith Malinga shattered the stumps of Iqbal on a duck. Sabbir Rahman and Sarkar then showed brief resistance and started playing their free flowing shots. Soon, they saw their noses ahead with 58 runs added in the powerplay. However, they lost the wicket of Rahmman in the last over of the powerplay as he was run out on 16 (14) by Seekkuge Prasanna.

In the very same over, the other set batsman Sarkar had to walk back as well after scoring 29 off 20 deliveries with 3 fours and a six. He was dismissed by Sanjaya. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim had a very short stay at the crease as he was cleaned up by Asela Gunaratne on 8. Wicket of Shakib Al Hasan (11) fell soon after and the innings crashed midway after such a good start. They were reeling at 82/5 in 11.1 overs.

It was a timely 6th wicket stand of 57 runs between Mosaddek Hossain Saikat and Mahmudullah that saw them hold the fort despite the crash. Mahmudullah was bowled by Malinga on 31 (26) in the penultimate over. It was an unbeaten 34 off 30 balls with 3 fours from Saikat that saw Bangladesh post a decent 155/6 in their 20 overs.

The run chase for the hosts began in a flying fashion. Kusal Perera and Upul Tharanga launched the attack straightaway and never let the new ball bowlers settle despite Mahmudullah yielding only 6 runs in his first two overs. Both openers added 65 runs off just 41 balls for the first wicket before Tharanga perished on 24 (23) in the 7th over. Dilshan Munaweera could not last long enough and it was Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza who caught and bowled him on 8.

Asela Gunaratne joined Perera at the crease. Meanwhile, Perera went past his fifty and looked solid for more. Asela struggled for his 18-ball 17 before being run out as a result of some very smart and agile work by Sabbir Rahman. Perera was dismissed on 77 off 53 balls studded with 9 fours and a six.

It was some clean striking from Seekkuge Prasanna that saw Sri Lanka cruise past the target despite having a minor hiccup. He struck an unbeaten 22 off just 12 balls with two sixes and a four to see the hosts over the line with six wickets in hand and 7 balls to spare. Sri Lanka leads the two match T20I 1-0 with the second match to be played on April 6.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 155/6 in 20 overs (Saikat 34, Mahmudullah 31, Malinga 2/38, Prasanna 1/19)

Sri Lanka 158/4 in 18.5 overs (Perera 77, Tharanga 24, Mortaza 2/32, Taskin 1/33)