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New Delhi: Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by 83 runs at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla on Sunday, July 14. The visitors levelled the three-match T20I series at 1-1. Bangladesh delivered a clinical performance in all three departments.

Bangladesh batters showed much better intent as compared to the first T20I, where they couldn’t score much. The visitors lost their openers early as Thushara dismissed Parvez on a duck and Fernando dismissed Tanzid on 5 runs. After their dismissal, Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy steadied the ship for Bangladesh and forged a 69-run partnership for the third wicket.

Both batters scored runs at a brisk rate, but Binura Fernando broke that partnership at the right time when he removed Towhid Hridoy on 31 runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz failed to score runs as Fernando dismissed him in the same over, reducing the visitors to 78/4.

Bangladesh looked in trouble at one point, but Shamim Hossain played a counterattacking innings, dealing in boundaries and rotating the strike at the same time. Litton completed his fifty while Shamim gave the finishing touches for the Bangla Tigers. Saifuddin’s cameo ensured they posted a 178-run target for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka suffer dramatic collapse in run chase

Chasing the target, the hosts got off to a poor start as Kusal Mendis was run out by Shamim in the second over of the innings. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and after that, the run chase never looked comfortable for the Sri Lankan batters.

Shoriful Islam and Mohammad Saifuddin picked up two wickets each, while Rishad Hossain was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets. The hosts eventually fell 83 runs short of the target, and the T20I series is levelled. The third and final T20I of the series will be played in Colombo on Wednesday.