Sri Lanka overcome Mahmudullah, Jaker fifties to clinch thiller

Sri Lanka edged out Bangladesh by three runs in a thrilling contest in the first T20I in Sylhet and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Charith Asalanka was named Player of the Match for his 44* off 21 that helped the visitors to a power score and allowed them to survive the onslaught by Jaker Ali (68 off 34) and defend a total in dewy conditions.

SL work past middling start to 206/3

Sri Lanka, having been sent in to bat, lost Avishka Fernando and Kamindu Mendis inside the PowerPlay, which they finished at 45/2, but Kusal Mendis (59 off 36) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (61 off 48) added 96 runs for the third wicket in quick time and set the side on course. Once Mendis holed out to off Rishad Hossain's bowling in the deep, out came Asalanka, hitting 6 sixes in a whirlwind knock that took Sri Lanka past 200.

Bangladesh leak plenty towards the end

As many as 64 runs were scored in the last four overs, which eventually made the difference in the end. Mustafizur Rahman bowled two of those but looked short of ideas against the Sri Lankan pair on what was admittedly a flat wicket with short boundaries. The final over of the innings, again bowled by Mustafizur, was taken for 24 runs.

A poor start to the run-chase

Angelo Mathews struck twice in the PowerPlay to account for Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy as Bangladesh lost three in the first six overs. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudullah (54 off 31) steadied the innings with a 38-run stand before the former was bounced out by Matheesha Pathirana.

The Mahmudullah-Jaker stand, and that final over

Ali, who hit 4 fours and 6 sixes in his belligerent innings, played the second fiddle while Mahmudullah was at the crease during their 47-run stand. But once Mahmudullah walked back, Ali came into his own and unleashed a flurry of sixes against the likes of Theekshana and Shanaka. It helped bring down the equation to a very gettable 56 off 24, and then 12 off the final over, but Shanaka, who had been picked to bowl over Mathews, held his nerves and delivered a superb final over with five fielders inside the ring. Bangladesh were into it until the last ball though, needing a six off the final delivery to win but Taskin couldn't quite manage the big hit.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 206/3 (Samarawickrama 61*, Asalanka 44*; Rishad 1-32) beat Bangladesh 203/8 (Jaker ALi 68, Mahmudullah 54; Mathews 2-17) by 3 runs.