The Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka rivalry is as spicy as it gets. On Saturday, in the faraway Americas, the Asian rivals played out yet another thriller with Bangladesh escaping with a two-wicket win in their ICC T20 World Cup 2024 group match. (Highlights | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
As expected there was plenty of drama. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bowl first, obviously planning to exploit Sri Lankan batters' lack of confidence -- they were dismissed for 77 all out by a fiery South African pace attack only a few days ago in New York.
The setting was moved to Dallas for the BAN vs SL showdown. But such scares usually take time to heal. Enter The Fizz, and the stage becomes all the more complicated for the Lankan Lions. Because, in Mustafizur 'The Fizz' Rahman, Bangla Tigers have one potent lethal.
And the left-arm pacer didn't need a second invitation to make his presence felt. He scalped three wickets as Bangladesh restricted Sri Lanka to another low total, 124/9. That, however, was half the story.
What happened between Wanindu Hasaranga and Towhid Hridoy?
Sri Lanka needed a good start with the ball to stand a realistic chance of beating their Asian rivals. Dhananjaya de Silva dismissed Soumya Sarkar with the third delivery of the innings. Nuwan Thushara made it 6/2 in the second over by removing Tanzid Hasan. He followed it up with the wicket of Najmul Hossain Shanto in the 6th. So far so good for the former champions!
With Bangladesh reeling at 28/3, Sri Lanka were in the ascendency. Yet, it was still anybody's game as Liton Das and Towhid Hridoy were in the middle of rebuilding the Bangladeshi innings. Then all hell broke loose.
Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga, having conceded 12 runs in his two overs, returned for a second spell in the 12th. But to the chagrin of the fielding team, Hridoy hit a hat-trick of sixes to effectively change the course of the match.
Hasaranga got his revenge immediately, trapping Hridoy in front with the fourth delivery of the over. The skipper also got the wicket of Das (36 off 38) in his final over, and Matheesha Pathirana removed dangerous Shakib Al Hasan for a 14-ball eight before Thushara's two in two, those of Rishad Hossain (1 off 3) and Taskin Ahmed (0 off 1).
Watch the duel here:
But the damage was already done. Hridoy, who had earlier lofted Hasaranga for his first six, made 40 off 20 with the help of one four and four sixes.
Sri Lanka will now need to beat Nepal, on Jun 12, and the Netherlands, on June 17, by big margins to stay in the hunt for a Super 8 spot. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will face South Africa on June 10, the Netherlands on June 13 and Nepal on June 17.
