BAN vs SL Scorecard, 1st T20I Highlights: Charith Asalanka shines in Sri Lanka's thrilling win as Jaker Ali's effort goes in vain

BAN vs SL Scorecard, 1st T20I Highlights: The first T20I of the three-match series between the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Bangladesh National Cricket Team and Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lanka National Cricket Team was held at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Monday, March 4.

The visitors managed to win the nail-biting match by 3 runs against the hosts to take a 1-0 lead in the T20I series. The second match between the teams will be held in Sylhet on Wednesday, March 6.

BAN vs SL 1st T20I – Sri Lanka innings: Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, and Charith Asalanka help Sri Lanka register a big total

Bangladesh won the toss in the match and elected to bowl first. Shoriful Islam provided his side with a good start by removing Avishka Fernando for 4 runs on the second delivery of the match. Taskin Ahmed also chipped in with the ball and dismissed Kamindu Mendis for 19 in the 5th over.

It looked like Sri Lanka would get bundled out for a low score but Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama didn’t let that happen. The duo showcased a batting masterclass and launched an attack on the bowling unit of the hosts.

Mendis and Samarawickrama stabilized the innings of Sri Lanka with their tremendous partnership. The duo added 96 runs in 61 deliveries to push Bangladesh on the back foot. After the dismissal of Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama joined hands with Charith Asalanka and destroyed the hosts’ bowling unit.

Asalanka played absolutely attacking cricket and was involved in a terrific 73-run partnership with Samarawickrama. The sensational batting of the trio made sure that Sri Lanka went past the score of 200 as they posted 206/3 on the board. Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 61 runs off 48 balls, Kusal Mendis smashed 59 runs off 36 balls, and Charith Asalanka blasted 44 runs off 21 balls.

BAN vs SL 1st T20I – Bangladesh innings: Mahmudullah, and Jaker Ali play fighting knocks but fail to steer the hosts to win

Just like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh were off to a poor start in the match as they lost three quick wickets. Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, and Towhid Hridoy failed to contribute runs with their bat in the big run-chase and were back in the hut when the score of Bangladesh was just 30 runs.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto decided to stabilize the innings of his team, but he wasn’t able to score big runs. He was dismissed by Matheesha Pathirana after scoring 20 runs off 22 balls, with 3 fours

After that, the veteran Mahmudullah stitched a crucial partnership with Jaker Ali that made sure that the Bangla Tigers were still in the game. Mahmudullah smashed a sensational 54 runs off 31 balls, with 2 fours and 4 sixes, before getting dismissed by Maheesh Theekshana.

The dismissal of the veteran didn’t have much impact on Jaker Ali as he showed his destructive batting and added 65 runs off 27 balls with Mahedi Hasan.

In the end, Bangladesh needed 12 runs off the final 6 balls to win and they weren’t able to cross the line. Dasun Shanaka, who was bowling the last over, dismissed Rishad Hossain on the first delivery and Jaker Ali on the third ball to end his fighting innings. Ali was back in the hut after scoring a sensational 68 runs off 34 balls, with 4 fours and 6 sixes as Bangladesh were restricted to 203/8.

BAN vs SL 1st T20I – Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka – 206/3 (Sadeera Samarawickrama 61 runs off 48 balls; Rishad Hossain 1/32)

Bangladesh – 203/8 ( Jaker Ali 68 runs off 34 balls; Angelo Mathews 2/17 )

BAN vs SL 1st T20I – Full Scorecard: