Kusal stars in Lanka win
colombo — Sri Lankan rode on a 77 from Kusal Perera to beat Bangaldesh by four wickets in the first T20 International of a two-match series in Colombo on Tuesday.
Earlier, Mosaddek Hossain topscored with 34 not out as Bangladesh made 155 for 6.
Mosaddek helped revive the innings with a 57-run sixth wicket stand with Mahmudullah after some disciplined bowling by Sri Lanka left the visitors reeling at 82 for 5 at one stage.
Mahmudullah made 31 off 26 balls while Soumya Sarkar chipped in with 29 in Bangladesh’s stopstart innings at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who announced his retirement from Twenty20 International cricket before the game, won the toss and opted to bat first but
This is going to be my last T20 series for Bangladesh Mashrafe Mortaza
the side was rocked by Lasith Malinga’s second ball strike.
Making a comeback to international cricket after weeks of injury lay-off, Malinga bowled opener Tamim Iqbal for a duck, though Sri Lanka could not capitalise on the start.
Soumya and Sabbir Rahman put on 57 runs for the second wicket to power Bangladesh back on track before a run-out of Sabbir for 16 triggered a Bangladesh collapse and choked the visitors in the middle overs.
Soumya left in the same over before quick dismissals of Mushfiqur Rahim (11) and Shakib Al Hasan (11) threatened to have derailed Bangladesh completely.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s limitedovers captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza on Tuesday announced his retirement from Twenty20 International cricket after the ongoing two-match series against Sri Lanka.
The strapping 33-year-old pacer, who plays wearing braces to protect his creaking knee, made the announcement during the post-toss interview at the first T20 encounter at the R. Premadasa Stadium here, reports bdnews24.com.
“This is going to be my last T20 series for Bangladesh,” Mashrafe said. On his official Facebook page, Mashrafe said the reason behind the decision was to make way for the youngsters in the team.
“It has been a great honour for me to represent Bangladesh in T20I for more than 10 years. I believe that this team is currently a balanced one and there are some promising young stars,” Mashrafe wrote.
“This is high time for me to say good-bye to T20 format so that many youngsters can get the opportunity to showcase their talent and thus BCB can nurture them for the future. Let me congratulate the new captain in advance and I am sure the best is yet to come,” he added.