The dream had been for a long time – to win a series in any format on Sri Lankan soil. Even though the opportunity came many times, it was elusive. This time, the opportunity was missed in the ODI series as well. However, this time Bangladesh did not make a mistake in the T20I.
In the final match of the series, Tanjid Hasan Tamim’s excellent batting and Sheikh Mehedi Hasan’s magical bowling helped Bangladesh defeat the host Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 8 wickets and win the series 2-1.
With this victory, Liton Das’ captaincy journey began with success, and at the same time, the Bangladesh team wrote its name in the pages of history.
New history against the Sri Lankans
Chasing the target of 133 runs set by Sri Lanka on the Colombo pitch, Bangladesh faced a setback at the beginning. Opener Parvez Hossain Emon returned to the golden duck with the first ball of the match – this young man returned to the score of zero for the second consecutive match.
However, captain Liton Das and Tanjid Hasan Tamim prevented the collapse of the batting at one end. The two of them put on a crucial 74-run partnership, which laid the foundation for the team to win. Although Liton was dismissed for 32 runs, his innings was solid.
On the other hand, Tanjid Hasan Tamim secured the victory by scoring the fifth fifty of his career. His unbeaten innings of 73 runs off 47 balls was studded with 6 huge sixes and 1 four. His strike rate stood at 155.31.
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Towhid Hridoy finished the match unbeaten with Tanjid, scoring 27 runs (1 four and 1 six) from his bat. Bangladesh reached the target in just 18.5 overs.
Sri Lanka’s batting disaster due to Mehedi’s whirlwind
Along with this great performance of the batters, there was also great control over the ball.
Sheikh Mehedi Hasan bowled exceptionally well on his day, especially on his day. He took 4 wickets for just 11 runs in 4 overs, including a maiden over. This was the best bowling performance of his T20 career—he had previously taken 4 wickets for 13 runs against the West Indies in 2024.
The Sri Lankan top order collapsed under Mehidy’s spin. Their innings saw some resistance from Pathum Nissanka (46) and Shanaka (35) with the bat. But in the end, Sri Lanka could only manage 132 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs.
Shariful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Shamim Hossain Patwari took one wicket each. However, Shariful was a bit of a spendthrift—he took 1 wicket for 50 runs in 4 overs.
A new chapter is written
This victory added a new glorious chapter to Bangladesh’s cricket history. This is the first time the Tigers have won a series in any format on Sri Lankan soil.
Despite losing the Test and ODI series, this success in the T20s will give the team renewed confidence, especially in preparation for the upcoming World Cup.
Source: Banglanews24
