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France 24
13-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Bangladesh level T20 series with thumping win over Sri Lanka
After being outclassed in the opening game at Pallekele, the visitors rang in three changes and produced a performance that ticked all the boxes. Asked to bat first, they posted a competitive 177 before rolling over the hosts for a paltry 94 -- Sri Lanka's lowest T20I total against Bangladesh and their heaviest defeat to the Tigers in the format. It was also the lowest T20I total ever recorded by Sri Lanka at home. The hosts, chasing what seemed a gettable target on a decent surface, never got out of the blocks. The innings unravelled in a flash, lasting just 15.2 overs as wickets tumbled like a house of cards. The slide began when the in-form Kusal Mendis, guilty of complacency, tapped one to cover and set off for a single without urgency. Shamim Hossain swooped in and with a rocket arm nailed a direct hit, the turning point that opened the floodgates. Sri Lanka were reeling at 30 for four inside the Power Play, with the top order back in the hut. Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain turned the screws, claiming three wickets to stop a faltering Sri Lankan chase in its tracks. Only two Sri Lankan batters reached double digits as the middle order folded under pressure and Bangladesh's fielders threw themselves around like men possessed. Earlier, Bangladesh had themselves stumbled at the start, losing both openers inside the first two overs. But skipper Litton Das stood tall, anchoring the innings with his 12th T20I half-century -- a classy 76 off 50 balls studded with one four and five sixes. He rode his luck, surviving twice, on 30 and 56, both off the bowling of Jeffrey Vandersay and made Sri Lanka pay dearly. Litton found a willing ally in Shamim and together they stitched a brisk 77-run stand for the fifth wicket off just 39 deliveries. Shamim provided the fireworks, blasting 48 from 27 balls with five boundaries and two towering sixes, giving the innings the momentum it sorely needed. Sri Lanka's only silver lining was left-arm seamer Binura Fernando, who returned career-best figures of 3 for 31. Litton was named player of the match for his decisive knock. A full house watched the game at Dambulla and the teams now move to Colombo for the series decider on Wednesday. © 2025 AFP
Associated Press
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Mendis leads Sri Lanka to 7-wicket win over Bangladesh in 1st T20
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Kusal Mendis continued his sublime batting form in white-ball cricket and led Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket victory against Bangladesh in the first T20 on Thursday. Mendis followed his ODI century two days ago at the same venue with a 73 off 51 balls as Sri Lanka cruised to 159-3 with an over to spare for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Former captain Dasun Shanaka made an impressive return to white-ball cricket after almost one year and limited Bangladesh to 154-5 after Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to field. Mendis and Pathum Nissanka (42) had all but sealed the chase inside the first five overs with their belligerent hitting as Sri Lanka sped to 78-1. Nissanka smashed fast bowler Mohammad Saifuddin's first three deliveries for boundaries and Taskin Ahmed conceded 34 off his first two overs inside the powerplay, with Mendis smacking the pace bowler for three boundaries and three sixes. Nissanka's entertaining 16-ball knock ended when he holed out to mid-on but not before hoisting spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for two sixes. Mendis eased to his 16th T20 half century off 31 balls and — although leg-spinner Rishad Hossain beat Kusal Perera with a googly in the 13th over and had the left-hander splice an easy catch to wicketkeeper Litton Das — Sri Lanka eased to victory. Shamim Hossain timed his jump to perfection at short extra cover and plucked a brilliant left-handed catch to end Mendis' innings when Sri Lanka was only seven away from victory, after fast bowler Mohammad Saifuddin found the leading edge of the batter. Earlier, opener Parvez Hossain Emon showed plenty of aggression in the powerplay with his breezy knock of 38 off 22 balls before Shanaka squeezed Bangladesh's middle-order with his slower balls. Emon, who hit five fours and a six, couldn't clear Shanaka at long-on when he attempted a big hit against Nuwan Thushara as Bangladesh slid to 67-3. Leg-spinner Jeffery Vandersay perfectly filled the void of injured Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury. Vandersay had Das leg before wicket for just six as the batter misread the googly and went for a sweep. Mohammad Naim made an unbeaten 32 off 29 balls, but Bangladesh's batters couldn't find acceleration even in the death overs with Shamim Hossain (14 not out) hitting two late sixes to breach the 150-run mark. ___ AP cricket:
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mendis leads Sri Lanka to 7-wicket win over Bangladesh in 1st T20
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Kusal Mendis continued his sublime batting form in white-ball cricket and led Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket victory against Bangladesh in the first T20 on Thursday. Mendis followed his ODI century two days ago at the same venue with a 73 off 51 balls as Sri Lanka cruised to 159-3 with an over to spare for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Advertisement Former captain Dasun Shanaka made an impressive return to white-ball cricket after almost one year and limited Bangladesh to 154-5 after Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to field. Mendis and Pathum Nissanka (42) had all but sealed the chase inside the first five overs with their belligerent hitting as Sri Lanka sped to 78-1. Nissanka smashed fast bowler Mohammad Saifuddin's first three deliveries for boundaries and Taskin Ahmed conceded 34 off his first two overs inside the powerplay, with Mendis smacking the pace bowler for three boundaries and three sixes. Nissanka's entertaining 16-ball knock ended when he holed out to mid-on but not before hoisting spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for two sixes. Advertisement Mendis eased to his 16th T20 half century off 31 balls and — although leg-spinner Rishad Hossain beat Kusal Perera with a googly in the 13th over and had the left-hander splice an easy catch to wicketkeeper Litton Das — Sri Lanka eased to victory. Shamim Hossain timed his jump to perfection at short extra cover and plucked a brilliant left-handed catch to end Mendis' innings when Sri Lanka was only seven away from victory, after fast bowler Mohammad Saifuddin found the leading edge of the batter. Earlier, opener Parvez Hossain Emon showed plenty of aggression in the powerplay with his breezy knock of 38 off 22 balls before Shanaka squeezed Bangladesh's middle-order with his slower balls. Emon, who hit five fours and a six, couldn't clear Shanaka at long-on when he attempted a big hit against Nuwan Thushara as Bangladesh slid to 67-3. Advertisement Leg-spinner Jeffery Vandersay perfectly filled the void of injured Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury. Vandersay had Das leg before wicket for just six as the batter misread the googly and went for a sweep. Mohammad Naim made an unbeaten 32 off 29 balls, but Bangladesh's batters couldn't find acceleration even in the death overs with Shamim Hossain (14 not out) hitting two late sixes to breach the 150-run mark. ___ AP cricket:
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Sri Lanka eases to 99-run victory to clinch ODI series against Bangladesh 2-1
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka — Kusal Mendis smashed his sixth ODI hundred and led Sri Lanka to a commanding 99-run victory in the third and final one-day international as the home team clinched the series 2-1. Mendis marshaled Sri Lanka to 285-7 with an aggressive 124 off 114 balls after captain Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to bat. The Bangladeshi batters struggled against the pace of Dushmantha Chameera and Asitha Fernando, who shared six wickets between them to bowl out the visitors for 186 and give Sri Lanka an eighth successive win in a home ODI series. Fernando clean bowled Tanzid Hasan (17) with a searing yorker in the third over of the chase and Najmul Hossain Shanto then deflected Chameera's incoming delivery back onto the top of the stumps for nought as the visitors slipped to 2-20. Sri Lanka's middle-order struggled against the spin as Dunith Wellalage (2-33) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-35) struck with regular intervals and the Bangladeshi batters also couldn't put up strong partnerships. Towhid Hridoy (51) made a fighting half century off 78 balls before Chameera returned and knocked back the stumps with another superb inswinger and Fernando varied his pace to perfection for two wickets of the tailenders to wrap up the game. Earlier, Mendis marshaled Sri Lanka to a strong total and together with Asalanka shared a strong 124-run fourth-wicket stand. Mendis was strong on the leg side and smashed 18 fours in his chanceless century as he punished anything pitched short with his short-arm jab pull shots while sweeping the spinners to perfection. 'My batting coach said that if I score we will win,' Mendis said. 'I played a different game in the last match, but today I played my normal game after speaking to the coach. The pitch was a little slow, but it came on better later on.' Bangladesh had kept Sri Lanka in check at 3-100 in 21 overs before Mendis and Asalanka took charge. Sri Lanka looked set to get past the 300-run mark but Bangladesh came back well in the last 10 overs. Asalanka, who made 58 off 68 balls, holed out in the deep in the 41st over when he missed out on a low full toss of fast bowler Taskin Ahmed. Mendis fell in the 46th over as he top-edged a short ball from Shamim Hossain, who grabbed a catch over his shoulder. Ahmed finished with 2-51 and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 2-48. 'We didn't get partnerships in the middle, and from the openers,' Bangladesh captain Miraz said. 'That was the problem for us. Our team is young, they need time. If you give opportunity it might pay off one day.' Both teams will now compete in a three-match T20 series, starting from Thursday. ___ AP cricket:
France 24
08-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Sri Lanka crush Bangladesh by 99 runs to seal ODI series
Set a challenging target of 286, Bangladesh faltered under pressure and were bundled out for 186 inside 40 overs as Sri Lanka flexed their bowling muscle to wrap up the contest with ease. The victory caps a remarkable turnaround for Sri Lanka in the 50-over format since their dismal World Cup campaign in India in 2023, where they finished ninth and failed to qualify for this year's Champions Trophy. Since that debacle, they have won seven of nine ODI series, including notable triumphs over heavyweights Australia and India. "This is probably one of our best games," Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said. "We were under pressure and we wanted to win badly and Kusal Mendis was superb today. When we ended up scoring 285, we knew we had the runs on the board and the bowlers' job became easy." The architect of the series-deciding win against Bangladesh was indeed Mendis, who silenced his critics with 124 off 114 balls – his sixth ODI hundred. The wicketkeeper-batter came into the game under fire after his rash dismissal during Sri Lanka's 16-run defeat in the second ODI in Colombo. But at Pallekele, with the series on the line, Mendis dropped anchor and rebuilt the innings with a mature knock laced with 18 boundaries. 'A lot of positives' Coming in during the fourth over, he put on a vital 124-run stand for the fourth wicket with skipper Asalanka to lay the foundation for a competitive total. "Very pleased with the knock today. Was disappointed with what happened in Colombo. I had got a start and couldn't finish," said Mendis, who was named man of the match and player of the series. "Here I was determined to bat through the innings and very satisfied." At one stage the hosts looked set for a 300-plus total, but Bangladesh clawed back with tight death bowling to restrict them to 285 for seven. The target proved to be a tall ask once the tourists' top order caved in. Dushmantha Chameera, returning to the fold in this series after more than a year on the sidelines due to injury, hit the deck hard and was a handful with the new ball. The right-arm quick rattled the stumps of in-form Najmul Hossain Shanto (0) with a gem that jagged back sharply to kiss the top of off. With Towhid Hridoy then offering some resistance with a half-century, Chameera returned to breach his defence with another sharp in-swinging delivery that crashed through the gate. The quick finished with three for 51 and was ably supported by Asitha Fernando, who also claimed three wickets. The two sides will now be involved in a three-match T20I series beginning Thursday, also at Pallekele. "We started off well and we tried to bat positive, but the scoreboard pressure got to us," Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz said. © 2025 AFP
