Bangladesh chased down a massive 215 runs against Sri Lanka in the third T20 of the Nidahas Trophy to clinch their first win of the triangular series. At a venue that favours bowlers the most, Bangladesh sealed the fourth highest successful chase in T20 cricket and biggest in Sri Lanka. Mushfiqur Rahim was at the forefront of the huge chase and remained unbeaten when the winning runs were struck. He remained unbeaten on 72 from 35 balls. Almost caught in the euphoria of the moment, Mushfiqur celebrated with a “naagin (cobra) dance” after scoring the winning runs. Tamim Iqbal revealed in the press conference later that the celebrations originated from a fellow Bangladesh player.
“We have a left arm spinner in Nazmul Islam Opu and it is his celebration. Whenever he gets a wicket, in domestic cricket or Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), he does this snake dance. It was quite funny. I think Mushfaqir Rahim showed it to him and we knew who he was doing the celebration for. We take a lot of pride in playing with Opu and whenever he takes a wicket, we enjoy it a lot,” said Tamim. “Unfortunately he hasn’t taken a wicket yet so when he does, you will get to see how he dances,” he added.
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Put in to bat, Sri Lanka spanked Bangladesh bowlers to all around the park to post a total that many would have believed would be enough to get the win. Tamim and Lipton Das at the top of the order had other ideas. They were destructive in the powerplay overs and soon enough Bangladesh were 103/2 after 10 overs. Mushfiqur remained the crucial element in the chase even as wickets fell to create pressure. A six in the penultimate over helped ease a nervous finish before Bangladesh got the victory with two balls to spare.