Bangladesh snapped a long-standing hoodoo as they defeated Sri Lanka for the first time in the history of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in a low-scoring thriller at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Mahmudullah emerged as the hero for the Bangla Tigers as he held his nerves in the high-voltage clash to take Bangladesh over the line by two wickets.
Chasing 125 to win their T20 World Cup campaign opener, Bangladesh wobbled badly at the beginning and were reduced to 28 for the loss of three wickets in just 5.2 overs. However, Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy combined to add a 63-run stand for the fourth wicket to take Bangladesh out of strife.
Hridoy smashed three consecutive sixes against Wanindu Hasaranga on the first three deliveries of the 12th over to transfer the pressure entirely on Sri Lanka before Hasaranga struck on the following delivery and trapped the Bangladesh batter in front of his stumps.
Hridoy's wicket triggered a mini-collapse for Bangladesh and they lost their next four batters after adding just 22 more runs to the total. Nuwan Thushara scripted a dramatic comeback for the Lankan Lions as he got rid of Rishad Hossain and Taskin Ahmed on consecutive deliveries in the 18th over to help Sri Lanka wrestle back some momentum.
However, Sri Lanka's moment of fleeting joy came to an anticlimactic end as Mahumudullah played an unbeaten knock of 16 runs to help Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka for the first time in the Men's T20 World Cup history.
Earlier in the day, the Bangladesh bowlers exercised plenty of discipline and never allowed the Sri Lankan batters to break the shackles.
Taskin and Mustafizur Rahman bagged two and three wickets respectively to dent Sri Lanka's hopes of putting a huge total on the board but Rishad Hossain stood out among all the Bangladesh bowlers and displayed a Player of the Match performance, picking up 3/22 in his four overs.
