Bangladesh edged past Sri Lanka in a low-scoring thriller at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas as they defeated their rivals by 2 wickets in a chase of 125. Veteran Mahmudullah held his composure in a run chase that turned out to be a close one to give Bangladesh their maiden T20 World Cup win over the Lankan Lions.
After this loss, Sri Lanka have registered an embarrassing record in the 19-year-old history of T20I cricket. Sri Lanka have become the second team in T20Is to suffer 100 losses after Bangladesh (excluding tied games). The Lankan Lions have played 191 T20Is, winning 85 and losing 100. Four games have been tied ones, while two have been no-result encounters.
Most losses in T20I cricket:
1 - Bangladesh: 100 losses out of 170 matches
2 - Sri Lanka: 100 losses out of 191 matches
3 - West Indies: 99 losses out of 196 matches
4 - Zimababwe: 95 losses out of 145 matches
5 - New Zealand: 91 losses out of 217 matches
The Lankan Lions have suffered their second loss in as many games in the ongoing edition of the tournament. They first lost their opening encounter to South Africa at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York before going down to the Bangla Tigers.
Against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka made 124/9 in innings of several phases. Pathum Nissanka led his side to a strong start despite Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis failing to make an impact. Wanindu Hasaranga's side was at 64/2 after the first eight overs before they suffered a slip in the middle overs. They added only 52 runs from overs 6-14 and only 24 in the last six overs.
Bangladesh had a far from easy chase. They lost Soumya Sarkar and Tanzid Hasan in the first two overs but Litton Das staged a fightback. The wicketkeeper batter made 36 from 38 balls, while Towhid Hridoy's powerful 40 from 20 balls was a standout. His three consecutive sixes in pressure situation in the 12th over helped the Bangla Tigers come close but they lost wickets at the end as there seemed a twist in the tale. But a cool Mahmudullah took the Bangla Tigers off the line with a 13-ball 16.
