Dallas (USA): Mahmudullah Riyad's calm and composed 16-run knock under pressure helped Bangladesh to secure a nervy victory over their arch-rivals Sri Lanka by two wickets with six balls to spare in the ongoing ninth edition of the T20 World Cup 2024 at Grand Prairie Stadium here on Saturday.
Chasing 125, Bangladesh lost early wickets but Towhid Hridoy's knock of 40 off 20 balls, brought them back into the game. Apart from him, Litton Das also scored 36 runs. But, Mahmudullah's calmness later made a huge difference as he calculated the overs of their wicket-taking options and took them into the 19 over. By then, overs of Matheesh Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara were already finished.
Sri Lankan captains had to choose between their former skipper Dasun Shanaka and Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva. However, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka captain decided to go with medium pacer Shanka, who bowled a poor delivery first up. Shanka bowled a full toss to well-set Mahmudullah, who smacked it for a six. He and his partner Tanzim Hasan Sakib sensibly took singles and a couple to take their side home.
Pacer Nuwan Thushara performed exceptionally well in both phases for Sri Lanka and registered a brilliant four-wicket haul. Pathirana also played his part pretty well and finished with one wicket for 27 runs in his four overs. Captain Hasaranga was the most expensive bowler for the Lankan Lions. However, he picked up two crucial wickets of both set and dangerous batters in the likes of Towhid Hridoy and Liton Das.
In the earlier part of the match, Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets each, while Taskin Ahmed took two wickets for Bangladesh. Opener Pathum Nissanka was the top run scorer for Sri Lanka, scoring 47 runs off 28 balls with seven fours and a six. Kusal Mendis, de Silva, and Asalanka all got starts, but they couldn't convert them into big scores.
After the 14th over, Sri Lanka was going strong and was eyeing a 150+ run mark. But then, the Sri Lankan batting lineup started to collapse and lost their seven wickets inside a mere 23 runs. Sri Lanka managed to amass only 124 runs in the last six overs and were restricted below part target.
Credit to Sri Lanka for fighting all the way, but they have now lost two games and made life difficult for progression. They have lost both of their games now. They need to win remaining two with huge margin and hope for others equations to go their way to qualify for the playoffs.
