Bangladesh had no alternative but wining the match to survive in the series. If they lost, the last match would become a mere formality. But the Tigers did not let it happen. The representatives of red and green have made it 1-1 draw in the series by defeating the Lankans by 8 wickets.
After restricting Sri Lanka to 165 runs, Nazmul Hossain Shantor's team chased that run with 11 balls in hand.
With the target of 166 runs, the two Bangladeshi openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar attacked the Lankan bowlers from the beginning. 63 runs were accumulated on the scoreboard of Bangladesh in the power play through their relentless hitting.
However, the umpire once raised a finger against Soumya Sarkar at the first ball of the fourth over by Binura Fernando. Soumya challenged the decision of caught behind and the third umpire uphold his call saying not out. Lankan fielders created chaos surrounding the umpire. They argued with umpire Sharfuddaula about the matter for several minutes.
In recent time Bangladesh-Sri Lanka matches remain full of excitement and this match was no exception. However, Soumya Sarkar, who batted brilliantly in the first 6 overs, returned after the end of the power play.
Angelo Mathews easily took a catch at midwicket and stopped Soumya at 26 runs while Pathirana was bowling. Similarly, the other opener Liton Das returned scoring 36 after pulling Pathirana.
After losing two openers, Bangladesh went to the policy of ‘slow going'. Captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Tawhid Hridoy tried to revive Bangladesh's run chase. Using the foundation built by Liton-Soumya, Bangladesh went a long way towards victory with their bat. Runs came from the Shanta-Hridoy pair for the third wicket. Bangladesh reached the target with their responsible batting.
The skipper played a calm captain's knock, hit a six to give the team victory and also hit his own fifty. His brilliant innings of 53 runs included 4 fours and two sixes. Hridoy at the other end did not fall short, played an effective innings of 32 runs with 2 fours and 1 six.
Losioin the toss earlier, the Lankans bat first and stopped at 165 for 5 wickets in 20 overs. Maximum 37 runs came from the bat of Kamindu Mendis, 36 runs were scored by opener Kushal Mendis.
Taskin, Sheikh Mehdi, Mustafiz and Soumya got one wicket each for Bangladesh. Bangladesh's victory in the third T20 is now going to be the series-deciding.
The match is due at Sylhet International Stadium on March 9 (Saturday) at 3 pm.