T20 World Cup 2024: Bangladesh Push Sri Lanka to Brink of Early Elimination

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Bangladesh pushed rivals Sri Lanka to the bink of elimination after a 2-wicket win in their T20 World Cup 2024 Group D campaign opener at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Saturday (June 8).

After Mustafizur Rahman (3/17) and Rishad Hossain (3 for 22) helped restrict Sri Lanka to a paltry 124 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs, Mahmudullah (16* off 13 balls) evaded late fear to seal the run chase for Bangladesh in the penultimate over.

Bangladesh needed Mahmudullah see them home after Wanindu Hasaranga (2 for 32) triggered a collapse with the dismissal of two set batters Towhid Hridoy (40 off 20 balls) and Litton Das (36 off 38 balls), who shared a 63-run crucial stand.

Bangladesh were reduced from 91 for 3 to 113 for 8 in the space of 6 overs as Nuwan Thushara (4 for 18) and Matheesha Pathirana (1 for 27) chipped in with the wickets to bring the game to life.

With 11 needed off the final two overs, Dasun Shanaka was handed the task of bowling the penultimate over. Mahmudullah kept his composure and cleared the ropes on the first ball to make the equation in their favour. He scored the winning runs on the final ball to seal a two-wicket win for his side.

Dhananjaya de Silva also claimed a wicket for Sri Lanka, but could not save the 2014 champions from being on brink of an early exit from the show-piece tournament.

Earlier, put into bat, Sri Lanka lost opener Kusal Mendis early, but his opening partner Pathum Nissanka (47 off 28 balls) kept the scoreboard ticking before he fell to Mustafizur in the 9th over.

Dhananjaya (21 off 26 balls), Charith Asalanka (19 off 21 balls) and Angelo Mathews (16 off 19 balls) also contributed to the scoring, but could not take Sri Lanka close to a 150, which may have been tough to chase on the surface on offer in Dallas.

With this result, Bangladesh remain in third having won their only match so far, while bottom-placed Sri Lanka are virtually out of the tournament as they will need the other results to go their way even if they win their remaining two matches.