Kusal Mendis’ 74 off 48 after Kusal Perera’s 57 off 30 followed by a late 32-run cameo of Upul Tharanga helped the hosts amass the huge total of 214 for six at R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
Mushfiqur took the winning run in the last over with two balls to spare. He hit five boundaries and four sixes to become the Player of the Match.....
This is for the first time the Tigers have won a T20 by chasing over 200 runs.
Bangladesh opened their innings flying with a 74-run stand with Liton Das’ 43 off only 19 balls.
Pressure mounted on the Tigers when they lost the other opener Tamim Iqbal (47 off 30) halfway through the huge chase.
Soumya Sarker helped Mushfiqur ease the pressure with a steady 24 off 22.
After Soumya was gone, skipper Mahmudullah (20 off 11) was out when the team was 22 runs away from the victory.
Sabbir Rahman was run out without scoring any run, but an unfazed Mushfiqur finally took the Tigers to victory with Mehidy Hasan Miraz on the other end.
Earner, in Sri Lanka’s innings, Mustafizur Rahman struck first by taking the wicket of Danushka Gunathilaka (26 off 19) to break the opening stand of 56 runs and finally took three wickets in 4 overs in exchange for 48 runs.
Skipper Mahmudullah took two wickets in as many overs by giving 15 runs. Taskin Ahmed took one but gave 40 runs in 3 overs.
The Tigers won the rain-delayed toss and elected to bowl first in their second T20 match in the series. Both teams played unchanged sides from their previous games.
In the previous two matches of the tournament, the teams who won the tosses sent the rivals to bat first.
‘A much needed victory’
Bangladesh were desperate for a win to break a T20 losing streak of five matches. They have won only one T20 in their last 14 games in the format.
A single win would quell worries, Tamim had said after the first practice session in Sri Lanka. But victory eluded the Tigers in their first match.
Skipper Mahmudullah had also repeated Tamim’s message following Bangladesh's defeat at the hands of India.........
We only need to do well in one match. We need momentum. We are waiting. If we get some momentum, you will see a renewed Bangladesh, Mahmudullah had said.