END OF OVER:20 | 11 Runs | SL: 123/7 | RR: 6.15
- Sachithra Senanayake12 (9b)
- Thisara Perera35 (28b)
- Farhad Reza2-0-16-0
- Rubel Hossain4-0-34-1
TTA: "2 cliff hangers, 2-0 just doesn't tell it all. BD played like real tigers. Lot to take away from this before world t20"
Raghu: "How I wish Senanayke would have been in IPL... Great show.. calm and composed"
Sen: "Credit where credit is due BD push the lankan - first with the ball and now with the bat - prefect preparations for the T20 World cup #noeasy games in T20"
Phew! that was a cliffhanger, strewn with some awful shot-selection, but I suppose few will remember that at the end of a tense T20. Thisara Perera showed he's not just a slogger, calmly working the ball around late in the chase, Sangakkara showed the other batsmen how to bat till he gave it away near the end, and Bangladesh showed superb resilience, even after the batting failure and the early Kusal Perera onslaught. There were very few bad balls even as the nerves increased towards the end of the game (though the very last one could have been better), with the quicks regularly finding the blockhole.
Joy: "If there is no dew, i would go for Shakib, if there is dew, i would go for Shakib, even if he had to bowl with some pace!"
Chandra Sekhar : "It was indeed a Lion vs Tiger battle."
Danush: "Everyone talking about the world T20 already. Relax guys there is an ODI series and Asia cup before it. I wonder how the pitches will be for wrold T20. God bless Bangladesh pitches."
Sanjaya: "OMG, Stop killing us. my heart beat is still over the recommended count. you are trying to kill us on Valentines day. What a thriller. I don't how to tell how much I love these games and How much i hate them as well."
Lahiru: "Dew or no dew, you dont bowl spinners to Thisara in T20. It's a rule in T20 cricket."
Prabhath: "Reza must be wondering why i didn't bowl a waist high fulltoss"
Presentation ceremony:
First up, Mashrafe Mortaza: "We win the toss, decided to bat, but our batsmen couldn't go through, at the same time, the bowling and fielding was outstanding. I told the boys, 'we have nothing to lose in this match'. Lot of young players have come through in these two matches."
Dinesh Chandimal: "Credit goes to all the bowlers, after that we lose 2-3 wickets, after that Sanga-Thisara batted really well, at the end, Thisara batted really well for the end. We have to do some homework, we never under-estimate Bangladesh."
The Man of the Match is Thisara Perera. "After six wickets gone, I was under pressure to show who am I, I wanted to support my team-mate Sanga. Thanks to the Sri Lankan crowd."
The Man of the Series is Nuwan Kulasekara: "Very exciting games. It is a pleasure to win the matches, we have some areas to improve. Bangladesh keep improving everyday, full credit to them in both games. The one-dayers will be a different ball game, looking forward to the ODI series."
Righto, time for me to sign off, thanks for the many comments, apologies to those who were not published. See you at the one-dayers.
More discussion between the captain and the bowler
Another conference about the field
Shan: "If we need a six off last ball, Sachithra is the one to do it. He's done that twice before.."
No spin again. It is Reza to bowl the final over. Huge test this for him.
TTA: "9 runs 6 balls... Heart throbbing!!! Ppl with heart condition better stay out of this!! Come on Far had!!!"
END OF OVER:19 | 9 Runs | SL: 112/7 (9 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 5.89, RRR: 9.00)
- Thisara Perera33 (26b)
- Sachithra Senanayake3 (5b)
- Rubel Hossain4-0-34-1
- Mashrafe Mortaza4-0-29-2
A team huddle as they confer over who will bowl the penultimate over. It will be Rubel. Big call this.
TTA: "Mash has done his job as a bowler. Can he make the right decisions and guide BD home??"
END OF OVER:18 | 5 Runs | SL: 103/7 (18 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.72, RRR: 9.00)
- Sachithra Senanayake2 (4b)
- Thisara Perera25 (21b)
- Mashrafe Mortaza4-0-29-2
- Rubel Hossain3-0-25-1
Prasad: "Bangladesh cannot be favorites as long as Thisara is at the crease. Also the target is very low, it's just touch and go. SL doesn't have to take any risks, they can just work it out with 1's and 2's."
MAB: "SL looks still favorite, 23 in three overs is not a huge target, Perera would be key player now, Sena could also play big shots. fingers hurting now. (crossed since half an hour)"
Keeping back the spinners because of the huge amount of dew, I suppose.
END OF OVER:17 | 11 Runs 1 Wkt | SL: 98/7 (23 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.76, RRR: 7.66)
- Thisara Perera22 (18b)
- Sachithra Senanayake0 (1b)
- Rubel Hossain3-0-25-1
- Farhad Reza1-0-5-0
KC Sangakkara c Tamim Iqbal b Rubel Hossain 37 (59m 38b 1x4 1x6) SR: 97.36
