Player of the Match
Player of the Match

8.33pm That's all from Mirpur today. Lots of fours and sixes as Sri Lanka go 1-0 up in the two-match series. How will Bangladesh come back? Join us in Sylhet for the series' final game in a couple of days to find out. For now, it's bye bye from Deiva Muthu and Sreshth Shah. Hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of this match. See you.

8.27pm We're ready with the presentation.

Losing captain Mahmudullah, first up. He says: "I think we were 10-15 runs short. We should've scored over 200. Mushi at No. 3 was quite a bit of change, but Soumya and Zakir started well. Credit goes to the SL batters, though, and we didn't apply enough pressure. Having Arif and the others gives us a bit more depth in the batting, but we didn't execute our lengths with the ball. Hope to finish the season on a high in Sylhet."

Winning captain Dinesh Chandimal is here now. He says: "We didn't think the wicket will be this good. It was a good toss to lose, and credit goes to the batsmen - they played outstanding cricket. It's never easy chasing 194 in any wicket. Before the game started, our plan was to keep right-left combination going. At the same time, we tried keeping a power hitter: that's what we did, and glad it worked. Kusal, Gunathilaka, Thisara, Dasun were excellent. We all know Bangladesh are really good at home, so we never underestimate them."

Kusal Mendis is the Man of the Match. He says: "Very happy to get these runs. Yes, at the start, I wasn't in the XI, but the staff helped me prepare for today's game. I was told to play my normal game (like in ODIs), and I did exactly that."

8.18pm Sri Lanka chase down 194, their highest successful chase in T20 cricket, to take a 1-0 lead in this T20 series. It's also the highest score chased down in Bangladesh. Lots of records broken today by both teams, but Sri Lanka the happier side. The pitch was excellent for batting, and Bangladesh, despite scoring 193, were 15 runs short. Gunathilaka and Thisara went at a strike-rate of over 200, and Shanaka held the innings together with a well composed 42.The teams shake hands as the batsmen make their way into the pavillion. The team that bowled slightly better take the win at Mirpur. Five Bangladesh bowlers went for over 10 runs per over. The debutant Nazmul, though, was impressive with figures of 2-25. Where did Bangladesh go wrong then? Hopefully Mahmudullah can shed some light during the presentation ceremony.

Tharindu: "hardest question of the day "the man of the match?""

16.4
1
Rubel Hossain to Shanaka, 1 run, back of a length outside off, punched to cover for a quick run.. and there's the win! Sri Lanka win by six wickets.
16.4
5w
Rubel Hossain to Shanaka, 5 wides, short outside off, too short in fact! The batsman misses the pull, and neither can the keeper hold on to it. Mushi tries to jump and grab the ball, but the extra zip off the surface means that's five runs. Scores are level.
16.3
1
Rubel Hossain to Perera, 1 run, yorker on off stump, driven to deep extra cover. They walk across for the single

tanzim: "Wrong Calculation by Mahmudullah, Wrong way to use the bowler...hope next match he will improved himself...."

16.2
4
Rubel Hossain to Perera, FOUR, Thisara backs away towards the leg side, and Rubel follows! Good length outside leg, but the batsman can still manage to swipe this away. Muscled towards the leg side, and finds the cow corner boundary. Two men in the deep there, but neither had any chance
16.1
1
Rubel Hossain to Shanaka, 1 run, back of a length outside off, tries the cross-batted shot, but comes off the bat's top half. Drops safe near mid on though
16.1
1w
Rubel Hossain to Shanaka, 1 wide, full on middle and leg, but slides down the leg side. He's got to bowl that one again

SudarshanaSL: "Now it's game between two power hitters of SL rather than Ban vs SL" -- yep, a partnership of 52 in just 26 balls.

END OF OVER:
16 | 14 Runs | SL: 181/4 (13 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 11.31, RRR: 3.25)

  • Thisara Perera34 (16b)
  • Dasun Shanaka40 (22b)
  • Afif Hossain2-0-26-1
  • Mustafizur Rahman3-0-32-0
15.6
6
Afif Hossain to Perera, SIX, huuuge! Pulled off the back foot, and soars over long on! Ridiculous hitting. Short ball outside off, and that's too easy for the big man. Stands tall and slaps this over the non-striker's head. Lands 10 rows behind
15.5
4
Afif Hossain to Perera, FOUR, threads the gap on the leg side! Loose ball outside off. Too much width for Perera to work with, as he drags it towards the leg side. Lifted over midwicket as it races into the cow-corner boundary

Sri Lanka 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st53MD GunathilakaBKG Mendis
2nd37WU TharangaBKG Mendis
3rd2WU TharangaMD Shanaka
4th37N DickwellaMD Shanaka
5th65NLTC PereraMD Shanaka