Nuwan Thushara‘s five-wicket burst, including a hat-trick, after Kusal Mendis struck a 55-ball 86 handed Sri Lanka a 2-1 series win against Bangladesh in Sylhet on Saturday. Nuwan Thushara blew away the Bangladesh top order with a hat-trick in his first over – the fourth of the innings. He became the sixth Sri Lankan to achieve the feat. Rishad Hossain and Taskin Ahmed, also Bangladesh’s best bowlers on the day, provided some respite with the bat, but Sri Lanka had done enough damage in that initial phase to get to a comfortable win.
Rishad struck seven sixes in his 30-ball 53, the most by a Bangladesh batter and the second most by a batter batting at No. 8 or lower in the batting order. But the day belonged to Nuwan Thushara.
Pitch and Toss
The green grass is still there but it has burned out. It will grip a little bit for the spinners but there will be pace and bounce. Win the toss, bat first. I think the team batting first shall look to score 170-180 reckoned Russell Arnold at the toss.
Bangladesh skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto with no changes in his squad won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Wanindu Hasaranga post his return as skipper also wanted to bowl first made 3 changes to his squad leaving out injured Matheesha Pathirana, Akila Dananjaya and Dilshan Madhushanka . Dhananjaya De silva, Nuwan Thushara and the skipper himself took their places in the playing 11.
The Kusal Mendis show steers Sri Lanka
Put in to bat, the early bit of Sri Lanka’s innings was dominated by Kusal Mendis as the rest of the batters failed to provide ample support. Dhananjaya de Silva, after a slow start, ballooned a catch to mid wicket in the fourth over. Kamindu Mendis too fell for a run-a-ball 12, toe-edging a big hit to long off. By the 13th over, Mustafizur Rahman accounted for the dismissal of Wanindu Hasaranga, on a 13-ball 15, whose lap shot fell in the hands of the third fielder.
Through all this, Mendis carried Sri Lanka along single-handedly. He started out by putting a short and wide delivery by Taskin away for a boundary in the second over. He then lofted Mahedi Hasan for a boundary over mid off and then followed up swiping Mustafizur for a four. And then the sixes started to rain. Rishad Hossain was lofted over the long off boundary while Taskin’s short ball was pulled over backward square leg. Mustafizur’s slower delivery was pulled over fine leg. Soon after bringing up his half-century, he crunched Mustafizur for another maximum straight down the ground.
Even after Hasaranga’s dismissal, Mendis kept his carnage on, going after Mahedi and Shoriful Islam – the latter dismissed Charith Asalanka cheaply. However, after a couple of restrictive overs, Mendis fell while looking to go for a big shot, getting hurried by Taskin and top-edging a pull to mid wicket.
When Sri Lanka batted after losing the toss, Kusal Mendis was Bangladesh’s biggest threat, and he ended up scoring almost half of Sri Lanka’s 174-run total. Kusal Mendis’ 86 off 55 balls, peppered with half a dozen sixes and as many fours, was also his highest score in T20Is.
This was Kusal Mendis’ sixth fifty, in eight innings, against Bangladesh, the most by any batter. He struck half of his sixes down the ground, and the other half behind the wicket. It was also a similar split when it came to his fours; two scrumptious cover drives to go with four boundaries through third and fine-leg.
Dasun Shanaka’s 9 ball 19 propels Sri Lanka to respectable 174 for 7
Dasun Shanaka kept the momentum going by crunching a couple of boundaries and a six in the death overs, but failed to find support from the other end, with Sadeera Samarawickrama and Angelo Mathews unable to accelerate. Shanaka’s 9-ball 19 proved handy as Sri Lanka posted 174 for 7.
Nuwan Thushara’s hattrick rips through Bangladesh as they reeled at 25 for 5 in the Powerplay
Nuwan Thushara, who only entered the XI because Matheesha Pathirana was ruled out with a hamstring injury, started bowling in the fourth over and immediately got the ball to swing – he got one to shape into the left-handed Najmul Hossain Shanto and rearranged his stumps.
Towhid Hridoy was up next, and Nuwan Thushara got another one to swing similarly, this time the movement away from the right-hander. The ball ended up at the deep-third boundary, but only after uprooting the off stump. As a Sri Lankan fielder retrieved the ball, the rest became involved in an altercation with Hridoy, who had to be held back by umpire Tanvir Ahmed.
The chaos gave way to the sublime when Nuwan Thushara handed out that same treatment to Mahmudullah, trapping him lbw. The ball once again dipped and then swung in front of the batter. For those who witnessed the three balls, there’s bound to be debate about which was the best of the three.
Not too well. Even before they could settle themselves, they had lost half the side within the powerplay. The collapse may have been triggered by Dhananjaya de Silva – who had Litton Das top-edging a swipe to mid wicket – but it was Nuwan Thushara who did the real damage. Najmul Shanto was knocked over by an incoming delivery and Towhid Hridoy was cleaned up by an away going delivery. He then trapped Mahmudullah leg before with an away swinger to bag a hat-trick in the fourth over of the chase.
Soon enough, he knocked over Soumya Sarkar with an incoming delivery and left Bangladesh reeling at 25 for 5 at the end of the powerplay.
Rishad Hossein leads Bangladesh’s revival post Nuwan Thushara’s heroics
There was. But not so early. To make matters worse, Wanindu Hasaranga had Jaker Ali trapped leg before in the first ball of the ninth over. The revival came with Rishad going after the spinners. He smoked back-to-back sixes on the on side off Hasaranga in the 11th over and then swept Theekshana for another six in the next over.
Mahedi Hasan attempted to keep the attack going in the next over by crunching two boundaries off Shanaka but his innings was cut shot in the next over by Hasaranga. Taskin also provided some fireworks with the bat, but it was Rishad waging a lone battle. He smashed three more sixes off Theekshana in the 15th over, but it was too tall a task for him.
After Nuwan Thushara’s hat-trick, Bangladesh’s end was near. The 18,000-plus crowd had fallen quiet already, and it became worse when Wanindu Hasaranga trapped Jaker Ali lbw to reduce Bangladesh to 32 for 6.
Out of this mire came Rishad’s superb innings. He played out two overs before hitting Hasaranga for two sixes in the 11th. He then took a liking for Maheesh Theekshana, hitting him for his third six, with a sweep, and then with three slog-sweeps in the 15th over. To reach his fifty, Rishad timed a superb pull shot off Binura Fernando, before falling to Theekshana for 53 off 30 balls.
With the ball, too, Rishad had a great time. He removed Kamindu Mendis in his first over with a delivery that beat the left-hander in the flight. Rishad also removed Angelo Mathews. He also got to bowl the 18th over, a clear sign that Rishad is winning the trust of his captain.
He did bring up his maiden T20I fifty with another six but his 30-ball 53 had little impact on Bangladesh’s fate. Taskin made a breezy 21-ball 31, but Bangladesh kept losing wickets as they were eventually bundled out for 146 giving Sri Lanka a 28 runs win and a 2-1 series win over Bangladesh.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Najmul Hossein Shanto the loosing skipper said :
“The way they started, they batted brilliantly but we came back nicely to restrict them to 174. Credit goes to Nuwan, he bowled brilliantly but we have to look back on how we play the first six overs. We played some good cricket in all three matches, happy for Rishad. We can take a lot of confidence from this series but ODIs is a different format, we are looking forward to it,”
Wanindu Hasaranga the winning skipper said :
“I watched the first two games from the dressing room, we played very well in all three games. In the day games I trust my skills and back myself. It was his first game in the series and he bowled really well. Our bowling attack was too good for them. This is our last series before the WC and we can take a lot of confidence from this,”
Nuwan Thushara Player of the Match for his hattrick and a fifer said :(translated from Sinhalese by the assistant coach)
“He’s happy with his rhythm and to make an impact on the game. It is the first time he’s taken a hat-trick and he’s happy to do it for the country and win the game,”
Kusal Mendis Player of the Series said :
“The wicket was two-paced early on, some balls were coming on and some were not. After six overs the ball was coming on nicely. There was no pressure, I played my own game, took my time and they scored the boundaries. The batters and bowlers did well throughout the series. I am very happy with the series win,”
Bangladesh fought back bravely but the damage done in the fourth over was too big. Litton departed early to DDS but it was Nuwan Thushara’s first over that cost them the match. The slingy pacer replacing an injured Pathirana knocked over the top-order with a hat-trick. He picked up another in his second over and Bangladesh had slipped to 24/5.
Rishad and Mahedi steadied the ship before the former went berserk. He kept dealing in sixes and notched up his maiden T20I fifty, Taskin joined him and there was a thought that the duo might pull off the unthinkable, but Theekshana sent back Rishad in the 17th over and sealed the game. Thushara returned for his last over to complete his 5-fer and win the series for Sri Lanka. It was a well fought series but in the end Nuwan Thushara was the difference. Both the teams will now move onto the ODIs which starts on Wednesday.