Sri Lanka suffered a crushing loss to Bangladesh in the second T20I in Dambulla, losing by 83 runs as the series is now level at 1-1. While Bangladesh had lots of joy last night, it was a night to forget and a rude wake-up call for the hosts as they were outplayed in all departments of the game. With the series level at 1-1, one expects Sri Lanka to bounce back and learn from their mistakes. There were key areas where they lost the game, and we will list out three main reasons for their loss last night.
Lack of planning and dropped catches against Litton Das.
Sri Lanka started the game well by dismissing the openers early as Bangladesh were reduced to 7/2 in 2 overs. But they could not stop one man, and that was the Bangladesh captain Litton Das. The Lankans allowed Litton to rebuild the innings and accelerated at the right time to post a competitive score on the board. He first built a partnership with Towhid Hridoy putting on 69 runs off 55 balls to pull Bangladesh out of troubled waters.
Later on, when Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz fell in quick succession, Litton found an able partner in Shamim Hossain and put on a match-defining partnership of 77 runs off 39 balls. Shamim scored 48 off 27 balls. These two partnerships enabled Bangladesh to recover and get to 177/7 in 20 overs, 62 of which came in the last 5 overs. Litton was also helped when he survived a stumping chance from Kusal Mendis and a dropped catch by Theekshana later on.
Sri Lanka needs to tighten things up and be more clinical in the deciding game, where both teams won’t give an inch in that particular game. They can do it against a resurgent Bangladesh side.
Sri Lanka’s batting is crumbling under pressure
One of the main reasons for Sri Lanka to lose last night was a complete batting failure while chasing what was a decent score on the board. The batters wilted under pressure and gave their wickets away to fold inside 16 overs. Only Pathum Nissanka (32 off 29) and Dasun Shanaka (20 off 16) got to double figures. The rest got only single digits against their name w,hich was a sorry state of affairs. They fell both to pace and spin.
Sri Lanka cannot afford to have these collapses and must improve their batting display if they are put under pressure. In the first game, they were flawless, but here they were brought down to earth. The Lankans need to find that consistency in order to succeed in the third match. Pressure is a big factor in this day and age.
Bangladesh spinners out-bowled their Sri Lankan counterparts
Another key aspect to take note of situation was that the Bangladesh spinners out bowled the Sri Lankan spinners in Dambulla. This is very rare but it happened last night. If we have a look at the Sri Lankan spinners, they bowled 8 overs for 70 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Theekshana got a wicket while Vandersay returned wicketless and was expensive on the night.
If we contrast that to the Bangladesh spinners then Rishad Hossain stole the show with figures of 3/18 in 3.2 overs while Mehidy Hasan Miraz got a wicket in his 1/26 in 3 overs. So, 4 wickets were taken by Bangladesh spinners compared to 1 taken by Sri Lanka. Bangladesh were also tidy in their spin bowling albeit they had runs on the board.
This is also an important area to work on for Sri Lanka ahead of the third game as their spinners are always expected to out bowl the opposition spinners especially playing at home. They will have 2 days to think about how to improve from this situation.
What Lies Ahead
The series has been set up nicely now with the score at 1-1. The decider is set to be played in Colombo at the R Premadasa Stadium on 16th July. Can Sri Lanka bounce back from this defeat and clinch the series in Colombo or will Bangladesh continue the newfound momentum and win a T20I series on Sri Lankan soil?
We shall find out all the answers to this question as the match is only a couple of days away. The game is set to be a humdinger. We shall see how things unfold on the 16th of July.
Also Read: SL vs BAN : Phil Simmons Backs Litton Das To Come Good In T20I Series