Kusal, Nissanka easily dispatch Bangladesh in T20I series opener

Kusal Mendis smote another half century, Pathum Nissanka crashed a 16-ball 42, and Sri Lanka made light work of a target of 155, strolling home at the end of the 19th over.

It was the Sri Lanka bowling that laid the groundwork though, with Dasun Shanaka plying shorter lengths to concede only 22 from his four overs, while Jeffrey Vandersay also kept a lid on the scoring. Bangladesh might wonder if they were not ambitious enough, having lost only five wickets in their innings.

Their total always seemed light, but when Sri Lanka thumped 78 runs in the first five overs, losing only a wicket in that period, it felt even more meagre. With Kusal and Nissanka having provided that early explosion, the other batters did not have to strain themselves to prod Sri Lnaka home.

That entire Kusal-Nissanka opening stand was box office, as they ransacked 78 runs off 28 balls together. But there was one sequence that was utterly unmissable, as they racked up 30 off six balls, between overs 2.4 and 3.3.

The first three balls were Tanzim Hasan bowling to Nissanka, who smoked the bowler over cow corner, spanked him over cover, and got a lucky inside edge past the stumps in between. The next three balls were Taskin Ahmed to Mendis, who launched him over the cover boundary, slapped a four behind square on the offside, then in perhaps the shot of the tour, slog-swept Taskin over deep square leg for six.

There were other spectacular bursts of hitting in that partnership too - Nissanka starting the chase off with three consecutive fours was especially memorable. At the end of this stand, Nissanka had struck at 263, and Mendis at 233.

At the end of the seventh over Bangladesh were 57 for 1. At the end of the 17th, they were 122 for 4. Which means that in 60-ball stretch they scored only 65 runs, despite their batters being at the crease throughout. This is perhaps where that innings lost its way, with captain Litton Das making six from 11, and Towhid Hridoy hitting 10 off 13.

No. 5 batter Mohammad Naim also struggled, despite being at the crease for more than 11 overs and finishing not out. He made 32 off 29.

The only batters who brought serious urgency to the innings were Parvez Hossain Emon and Shamim Hossain. Emon crashed five fours and a six over midwicket in his 38 off 22 balls, even as opening partner Tanzid Hasan was struggling at the other end.

Later, Shamim hit two sixes in his five-ball stay, the reverse-swept six off Theekshana in the 19th over a particular highlight. He also took an outstanding overhead catch running back from short cover, to end Kusal's innings.