Oh! That's unfortunate for Bangladesh. Thigh high full toss. Could have hit it anywhwere, but he miscues it straight up in the air and Thisara Perera settles under the ball to take a catch. Is this a no-ball though? Umpires have sent it upstairs. It looks very tight, but since the on-field umpires didn't call a no-ball the third umpire couldn't definitively call it a no-ball. Could have gone either way, though.
Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I at Chattogram, Feb 12 2014 - Match Result
So what a game. Certainly much closer than the No. 1 v No. 10 rank would suggest. In all honesty, in my view, it came down to a coin-toss. That no-ball could have gone either way, and it fell in favour of the visitors. It was probably exactly waist-height. That concludes our coverage. Join us again for the second match, on the 14th.
Kusal Perera is, predictably, the man of the match. He says: "They bowled very good areas, so I tried to score quickly in the first few overs, then get settled down. Team-wise we are very confident about the World Twenty20 - it's going very well."
Chandimal: "Really happy. Kusal made a good start, Nuwan batted well. I'm full of beans again. It's a good opportunity before the World Twenty20. This is our World Cup venue, so we're trying to take the advantage. Bangladesh played very well."
Mashrafe: "Boys played really well and we were really close. Nasir has been a champion fielder for us. Anamul played very well. I'm happy with my own comeback, but I could have done much better. The last year we've played really well and we can fight with Sri Lanka. A big tournament is coming up for us and this series is a good opportunity to figure ourselves out."
Niloy: "Very unprofessional by the Lankans for the delay before the last delivery. Kept Anamul waiting for a long time. You cannot do that in Cricket. " True, but most teams would have done that to break the batsman's momentum. Umpires' job to step in,
Presentation coming up.
Sri Lanka's no. 1 ranking lives to fight another day, but boy, have they had some tight games defending it. Still think that Shakib dismissal was crucial. He didn't need to go for such a low-percentage shot when his team was in
control.
LoveLanka: "Phew.... ! You could be No.1 with ranking, that doesn't make you safe in this format..... what a game.. well playedd BAN..
Daniel Alexande: "Remember Thisara's last over to Maxwell? same situation here" Yep, Sri Lanka were in the same situation there, around the same time last year.
Anamul batted brilliantly in the last two overs to get Bangladesh in the match, but it was probably out of surprise, more than anything, that he couldn't put that ball away. Geez, that was mighty close to being a no-ball. I don't think Bangladesh are happy with that call, but they've got to live with it now.
Massive conference at the bowler's end for Sri Lanka. Chandimal and Perera taking ages to set their field. Three needed off the last ball to win, two to tie.
berserk. The crowd is going insane after that one. Does it feel like an earthquake around Chittagong? Everyone is jumping up and down. Anamul opens up his stance again, and gets under this ball from Thisara, which is a poor length for this stage of the innings, you've got to say. It goes high over cover, and skips over the rope.
shot! There's life in this one yet. Anamul skips down the track, opens up and slams a full Thisara ball past cover and all the way to the fence. That is a great shot.
dot ball, and this is probably out. Reza was haring down the pitch after Anamul's outside edge dribble away to the keeper. Anamul wants to stay on strike though, and turns his partner back. Sanga lobs it to Perera at the non-striker's end who collects and underarms it at the stumps. Third umpire confirms the Reza was about six inches short.
makes room and shovels this over the infield on the off side, the man from cover goes back to field it.
Anamul gets a big roar from the crowd, as he edges a full ball past the keeper for four. Lucky, but they all count
Sagar: "I think it's time that world cricket stops looking at Bangladesh as a lesser power now. Look at their recent record at home and you'll see that they have shown vast improvement. More than anyone else, their fans deserved it!"
Thisara to bowl the last one
low full toss again, and Anamul keeps strike by hitting it back towards Malinga
beautiful yorker on middle stump, Reza can only squirt it away to fine leg. Only a scoop might have made something of that ball.
Free hit coming up. Can Reza make something of this?
a yorker again, but it's a no-ball. Anamul whacks that aerially to long on
Bangladesh need another boundary in this over
yorker on off stump, Reza opens the face and gets it towards third man
low full toss, slammed straight to the midwicket fielder. Only one there. Anamul is angry at himself for finding that man.
full ball, almost a yorker. Anamul swipes this away to long on and wants two straight away. Might have been trouble if the throw had hit
Anamul, as the man who's been there a while, needs to do most of the work. He makes a good start here, swinging a slower, length delivery over square leg, and all the way to the fence
Bangladesh need an improbable 29 from two overs now, but it's still possible.
full and wide, Anamul chops down on it and gets it to the left of Dilshan, but the fielder dives full length and makes a terrific stop. Only a single.
shortish ball this time, it's shoveled away to the midwicket area for a single
Daniel Alexande: "Sri Lanka fighting back"
floats this up outside off stump, and Reza gets an ouside edge to it. This skips away to the fine fence, past the keeper.
full and at the stumps. Driven straight back to the bowler
Bangladesh coming unstuck after having looked so good. Shakib's wicket was a killer.
his first ball in T20 international cricket, and Mithun Ali unselfishly swats at that one. Sadly for him it's gone straight to Mathews at a short-ish midwicket. Sri Lanka have made huge gains, thanks to the slower ball.
slower ball from Kule, heaved down to long on
oh! And almost another wicket. Anamul hits this straight to Dilshan at backward point and takes off, and Mithun Ali probably would have been out before facing a ball had Dilshan's throw hit the stumps
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong | |
Toss | Bangladesh, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2013/14 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Sri Lanka led the 2-match series 1-0 |
Match number | T20I no. 357 |
Hours of play (local time) | 17.00 start, First Session 17.00-18.15, Interval 18.15-18.30, Second Session 18.30-19.45 |
Match days | 12 February 2014 - daynight (20-over match) |
T20I debut | |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |