Twitter Reactions: Bangladesh eke out a narrow win in the Colombo run fest

When Bangladesh locked horns with Sri Lanka in the first game between the two sides in the ongoing Nidahas Trophy 2018, the two teams had very different agenda getting in to the game. Sri Lanka, who have had a terrible run in the last year or so had found their form back against this very opposition a month ago. Ever since their win in Bangladesh across the three formats, they looked like a revitalized camp.

On the other hand, the Bangladeshi side’s woes in the shortest format of the game seemed to have been getting worse with every passing assignment. In the ongoing series, Sri Lanka won their first game and Bangladesh lost their first game. Hence, the hosts certainly entered the game riding high on confidence. The game, however, was tipped to be a boring affair.

But much to the surprise of everyone, it ended up being a thoroughly exciting contest between the ttwo sides. A high scoring game was on the cards for the fans to witness. Coming to the match, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first. Sri Lankan openers, Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis got off to a flying start as they added 56 runs in 27 deliveries for the first wicket before the former was dismissed on 26 (19).

Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera then put on a show of some excellent hitting to put the hosts in a commanding position. While Mendis scored 57 off just 30 deliveries with two fours and five sixes, Perera ended up with a brilliant 74 off just 48 deliveries with 8 fours and two maximums. In the lower order, Upul Tharanga came up with an unbeaten cameo of 32 off 15 deliveries to help the hosts post 214/6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

In the run chase, Bangladesh fought fire with fire as openers Tamim Iqbal (47) and Liton Das (43) accounted for 74 runs stand in just 35 deliveries. Liton Das, in particular, was very aggressive during his 19-ball stay at the crease. Soumya Sarkar had a struggling time but the Bangladeshi side found a new anchor of the chase in Mushfiqur Rahim. Rahim was briefly supported by skipper Mahmudullah who scored 20 as the asking rate came down to 7 an over.

Just when one thought that the hosts were back in the game with Mahmudullah’s fifty, Mushfiqur Rahim hit a few big shots to bring the game in Bangladesh’s court. Rahim remained unbeaten on 72 off just 35 deliveries to see his side through with five wickets in hand and two balls to spare.

Here is how the fans reacted to the match: