Sri Lanka restricted to 165-5 in second T20

Sri Lanka posted a total of 165 for the loss of 5 wickets in the first innings of the second T20 International against Bangladesh in Sylhet.

Sri Lanka, after being put into bat first, encountered a rocky start with a quiet maiden over followed by the early dismissal of opener Avishka Fernando in the second over. However, the Mendis duo, Kusal and Kamindu, launched a counterattack, guiding their team to 49 runs by the end of the powerplay. Just as they seemed to be building a formidable partnership, both batsmen fell after making promising starts. 

Sadeera Samarawickrama struggled to find his rhythm and soon departed as well. The onus then fell on skipper Charith Asalanka, who took the attack to the opposition, but his aggressive approach led to his dismissal too. 

It was the 6th wicket partnership of 53 runs between Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka that helped Sri Lanka to a decent total of 165 runs on the board. 

The hosts made a stellar start to the game, with Shoriful Islam delivering a fantastic maiden over to kick off proceedings. Taskin Ahmed then struck early, claiming the wicket of opener Avishka Fernando with just 1 run on the board.

However, the bowlers struggled to maintain their accuracy, allowing Sri Lanka to settle in and build a strong partnership. It was Soumya Sarkar who provided the breakthrough in the 9th over, removing the crucial wicket of Kusal Mendis. In the following over, Bangladesh’s sharp fielding and quick thinking led to the dismissal of Kamindu Mendis. 

Mustafizur Rahman further dented Sri Lanka’s batting lineup by removing the dangerous Sadeera Samarawickrama while Mahedi Hasan struck at a crucial moment to dismiss skipper Charith Asalanka.