His half-century after two wickets help Bangladesh avoid absolute humiliation
Published : 10 Mar 2024, 12:54 AM
Rishad Hossain’s all-round performance has helped Bangladesh avoid humiliation as Nuwan Thushara fired Sri Lanka to the Twenty20 International series victory in Sylhet with a five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick.
The Tigers were all out for 146 with two balls in hand, but still 28 runs shy of Sri Lanka’s 174 for 7 at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
It appeared early in Bangladesh’s chase that the hosts might not take their total past 100, or even avoid a 100 plus-run defeat, as Thushara rocked the top and middle orders with his hat-trick in the fourth over by taking out Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy and Mahmudullah, before accounting for Soumya Sarkar in the sixth.
But leg spinner Rishad, who debuted in December against New Zealand, had something else in mind.
He struck seven sixes in his 30-ball 53, the most by a Bangladesh batter and the second most by a batter at No. 8 or playing lower in the order.
He built a 41-run partnership with another tail-ender, Taskin Ahmed (31 off 21), after a 44-run stand with Mahedi Hasan (20 off 19).
Rishad and Taskin were also top wicket-takers for Bangladesh with two apiece.