T20 World Cup 2024: Mahmudullah's heroics lead Bangladesh to 2-wicket victory over Sri Lanka

Mahmudullah Riyad's brilliant performance guided Bangladesh to a thrilling victory over Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2024, held at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

Ovaise Shariff

First Published Jun 8, 2024, 9:41 AM IST | Last Updated Jun 8, 2024, 10:13 AM IST

Mahmudullah Riyad's outstanding performance steered Bangladesh to a nail-biting victory over Sri Lanka in a low-scoring thriller at the T20 World Cup 2024, held at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

Bangladesh held their nerve to secure their first victory in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. They clinched a closely fought 2-wicket win against Sri Lanka, marking a positive start to their tournament campaign.

The Bangla Tigers won the toss and opted to bowl first, restricting Sri Lanka to 124/9. Mustafizur Rahman (3/17) and Rishad Hossain (3/22) were instrumental in dismantling the Lankan batting order.

Sri Lanka's bowlers fought hard to defend the low total, taking 3 wickets in the powerplay. Dhananjaya de Silva dismissed Soumya Sarkar for a duck, while Nuwan Thushara claimed the other two breakthroughs in the first six overs.

Experienced campaigner Litton Das scored 36 off 38 balls and combined with Towhid Hridoy (40 off 20) to add 63 runs for the 4th wicket. Hridoy's three consecutive sixes off Hasaranga put Bangladesh in a commanding position, but Sri Lanka's skipper struck back to dismiss both set batsmen quickly.

Matheesha Pathirana removed a struggling Shakib Al Hasan with a brilliant catch by Maheesh Theekshana. Mahmudullah held his nerve till the end with an unbeaten 16 off 13 balls. Nuwan Thushara added 2 more wickets to his tally, but Dasun Shanaka's costly 19th over, where 11 runs were scored, eased the pressure off Mahmudullah.

Thushara (4/18) was the standout bowler for Sri Lanka, supported by Hasaranga (2/32), Dhananjaya (1/11), and Pathirana (1/27). Maheesh Theekshana bowled economically with figures of 0/25, but Sri Lanka's total was not enough to put Bangladesh under real pressure.

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