A new-look Sri Lankan team made a mockery of Bangladesh’s bowling to set up a 17-run win in the one-off Twenty20 International in Pallekele on Sunday.
The Tigers owed their defeat to a selection blunder and some poor displays of fielding coupled with some questionable umpiring decisions which made it improbable for them to chase down the target.
The visitors sprung a surprise when they included Shahadat Hossain in the starting line-up despite the bowler having a poor reputation in limited overs cricket.
And they were made to pay heavily for this decision as Shahadat conceded 54 runs in four overs without any success. His final over alone leaked 24 runs taking Sri Lanka’s score nearly out of reach.
The home side added 75 runs in the last five overs to finish their 20 overs with 198-5 and Bangladesh were rarely in the chase. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim looked hapless as he was devoid of any serious bowling option at that stage.
Three spinners – Sohag Gazi, Abdur Razzak and Mahmudullah- had already completed their quota of four overs, so he had to give the ball to Shahadat and Rubel Hossain in the last two overs.
Rubel gave away 40 runs in his four overs but somehow managed to take a wicket when he bowled Jeevan Mendis, but Shahadat made Mushfiq regret his selection.
He was preferred for the game ahead of Ziaur Rahman, who bowled better in the one-dayers and also had some batting in him. Zia also had a better record in this format compared to Shahadat who last played the five of his Twenty20 Internationals three-and-a-half years ago.
Shahadat’s reputation in the T20 format is so ordinary that he was not given more than two matches by crisis-team Khulna Royal Bengals in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League.
He did not get a single wicket in those two matches and conceded more than 11 runs per over.
Despite the average record, he shared the fortune of opening the bowling for Bangladesh in their first Twenty20 International after BPL-2 and Kusal Perera, Sri Lanka’s new batting sensation, did not take too much time to put him on the sword.
Kusal, affectionately hailed as the new Sanath Jayasuriya, struck him for two fours and a six in his first over and it presented the hosts with the right kind of platform they were hoping for.
Kusal went on to score 64 off 44 balls with the help of five fours and fours sixes and Angelo Mathews (30 off 27 balls), Jeevan Mendis (37 off 17 balls) and Thisara Perera (22 off seven balls) continued to make merry of the Bangladesh bowling.
The Sri Lankan batsmen also received some favours from the local umpires, both of whom were appointed by Cricket Sri Lanka as per the ICC rule for the T20 format.
Kusal was given the benefit of doubt in the very first ball while Mathews survived an appeal on 10.
The umpires, however, were not that generous towards the Bangladeshi batsmen. Debutant Shamsur Rahman Shuvo was adjudged leg before wicket to a delivery which was going high while Mohammad Ashraful also suffered a bad decision.
Ashraful, who was the victim of another error-strewn leg before decision in the last one-dayer, appeared solid until another dubious leg before decision to a ball going clearly down the leg side ended his 27-ball innings of 43 runs.
His innings, which featured four fours and two sixes, had some
promise which was badly missing in the other batsmen. Mushfiqur Rahim (39 off 29 balls) and Mahmudullah (31 off 18 balls) also played two cameos but it never looked like they could see the Tigers home.
They were still in the contest at least until the 15th over, but with
Nasir Hossain, their hero in the one-day series,
already out they lacked enough firepower deep down the order to see them through.
Mominul Haque, with his unbeaten 26 off 16 balls, could only
reduce the margin of defeat as Bangladesh
ended their chase on 181-7. One consolation for Bangladesh was that their score was the highest total for them while batting second in a Twenty20 International.
BRIEF SCORES
Sri Lanka 198-5 in 20 overs (K Perera 64, J Mendis 37, A Mathews 30 not out, T Perera 22 not out; Mahmudullah 1-28, S Gazi 1-30) v Bangladesh 181-7 in 20 overs ( M Ashraful 43, M Rahim 39, Mahmudullah 31, M Haque 26 not out; T Perera 2-15, A Mathews 2-37).
Result: Sri Lanka won by 17 runs.
Man of the match: K Perera (SL)
-With New Age input
