Bangladesh secured a commanding eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Colombo to clinch a historic T20I series triumph. With this victory, the Litton Das-led side wrapped up the series 2-1, marking their first-ever T20I series win on Sri Lankan soil. After a disappointing performance in the ODI leg of the tour, the Bangla Tigers bounced back impressively in the shortest format, playing some brilliant cricket in the middle.
Notably, in the third T20I, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Pathum Nissanka had a decent outing, scoring 46 runs, but wickets fell consistently from the other end. Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal and Charith Asalanka flopped, as they made 6,0,4,3 runs, respectively.
Initially, Kamindu Mendis and later Dasun Shanaka managed to keep the scoreboard ticking for a while, but Sri Lanka could only post 132 runs on the board in the first innings. For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan had a gun day, clinching four wickets.
Tanzid, Litton lead the chase
Tanzid Hasan Miraz, Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy won the game for Bangladesh with the bat. Tanzid made an unbeaten 73 runs off 47 balls as he led the chase from the front. The Sri Lanka bowlers, in the absence of Matheesha Pathirana, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dilshan Madushanka, never looked threatening and Bangladesh took advantage of it.
Meanwhile, Litton and Towhid added 32 and 27 runs, respectively, to wrap up the game with 22 balls remaining. After the win, Player of the Series, Litton, stated that the boys showed character throughout the series and interestingly mentioned that Bangladesh would have batted first, had they won the toss in the third T20I.
“I have no words to express at the moment how our team played, the boys showed character. We didn't play well in the first T20I but then we played well in back-to-back T20Is. Definitely, if we had won the toss, we would have batted first because we have a good bowling attack. It's a big achievement for Bangladesh, earlier we didn't win here but this win will boost Bangladesh,” Litton said.