Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Sri Lanka, as Bangladesh handed Sri Lanka an embarrassing two-wicket defeat to join India in Sunday’s Nidahas Trophy T20 final.

After being put on to bat first, Sri Lanka had their top five batsmen back in the pavilion when the score was just 41 runs and it needed two resolute innings from skipper Thisara Perera and Kusal Perera to get Sri Lanka to a decent 159 for the loss of seven wickets.

Bangladesh lost two early wickets but rode on a brilliant 64 run partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal for the third wicket before Mahmudullah struck a six off the penultimate bowl to silence the vociferous home crowd praying for a home win.

This was after Bangladesh threatened to walk off the field in the final over of the match. With Bangladesh needing 12 runs off the last over, Isuru Udana sent down two deliveries over the shoulder-height but surprisingly no no-ball was called much to the disappointment of the batting team. There’s only one shoulder-height delivery allowed in an over. Mahmudullah who was batting at the non-strikers end argued with the umpires before skipper Shakib Al Hasan called them off the field. However, Bangladesh decided to go back and get the required 12 runs of the remaining 4 balls.

Mahmudullah remained unbeaten on 48 off 18 balls.

After Mahmudullah flicked Udana’s fifth ball for a six, the entire Bangladesh team joined Mahmudullah in celebrating the victory with their now famous snake dance.

Earlier Sri Lanka recovered from a 41 for 5 to reach a decent 159 for seven thanks to a brisk sixth-wicket stand between Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera in their must-win game against Bangladesh here at the R Premadasa Stadium.

Put into bat first, Bangladesh took control of the game as they ran through Sri Lanka’s top order much to the disappointment of the home crowd, but stand-in skipper Thisara Perera who joined Kusal Perera played a brilliant counter-attacking knocks to propel Sri Lanka to challenging total

Kusal scored 61, his third half-century in the match off 40 balls with seven boundaries and a six while Thisara hit 58 off 37 balls including three sixes and three boundaries. Kusal also reached the 1000 run mark in the match.

Bangladesh bowled brilliantly early on to put Sri Lanka under tremendous pressure bowling to perfect plan but went for a few when Kusal and Thisera punished them relentlessly towards the end.

Sri Lanka

D Gunathilaka c S.Rahman b Shakib Al Hasan 04 

K. Mendis c S.Sarkar b Mustafizur Rahman 11

K.Perera c Miraz b Sarkar 61

U.Tharanga run out 05

D.Shanaka c M.Rahim b M.Rahman 00

J.Mendis c Rahman  b Miraz 03

T.Perera c Iqbal b Hossain 58

I.Udana not out 7

A.Dhananjaya not out 1

Extras (lb4, W5)9

Total (for 7 wickets in 20 overs ) 159

Fall of wicket: 1-15, 2-22,3-31,4-32,5-41, 6-138, 7-154

Bowling : Sakib Al Hasan 2-0-9-1, R.Hossain 4-0-41-1 , M.Rahman 4-1-39-2,M.Miraz 4-0-16-1, Mahamudullah 4-0-29-0, Sumya Sarkar 2-0-21-1

Bangladesh

T.Iqbal c K.Perera b Gunathilaka 50

L.Das c T.Perera b Dhananjaya 00

S.Rahman st †Perera b Dananjaya 13

M.Rahim c Perera b Aponso 28

S.Sarkar c Perera b J.Mendis 10

Mahamudullah not out 43

Shakib Al Hasan c Dhananjaya b Udana 7

M.Miraz run out 0

M.Rahman run out 0

R.Hossain not out 0

Extras (9w) 9

Total (for 8 wickets 19.5 overs) 160

Fall of wicket: 1-11,2-33,3-97, 4-105,6-109,6-137, 7-148, 8-148

Bowling : N.Pradeep1-0-10-0, A.Dhananjaya 4-0-27-, A.Aponso 3-0-37-2 , T.Perera 2-0-20-0, 2 , D.Gunathilaka 3-0-24-1, J.Mendis 4-0-24-1, I.Udana  2.5-0-26-1  

Sri Lanka face Bangladesh with berth in final at stake

The equation is simple: The winners go through to the final of the Nidahas Trophy, where India are waiting. The losers are out. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh know there’s no room for slip-ups when they take each other on in the final round-robin game of the Twenty20 International tri-series in Colombo on Friday.

Not that either side did too much wrong in getting into such a tricky situation, it’s the nature of a short and quick tournament. At the halfway point of the series, all teams had a win apiece, and anything was possible. Since then, however, India have powered on, beating Sri Lanka by six wickets, and following that up with a 17-run triumph over Bangladesh to go clear of the opponents.

Bangladesh lost both their matches against India Bangladesh lost both their matches against India

Mushfiqur Rahim once again scored a fine half-century against India in the last game. Bangladesh were chasing a target of 177, seemingly a manageable task given that they had toppled 214 against Sri Lanka a few days earlier. This time, however, he lacked support. Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman scored 27 each, but the rest of the eight batsmen who took the crease didn’t go past single digits, and Bangladesh crashed to defeat despite Rahim’s best efforts.

Their bowlers didn’t fare too well earlier – Rubel Hossain’s 2/27 apart, none of the others were among the wickets – and Bangladesh will hope to put behind a bad day in the office. To that end, they have been boosted by the return of Shakib Al Hasan. The all-rounder had injured his finger in January, but has recovered sufficiently and will link up with the rest of the squad in Colombo on Thursday.

As for Sri Lanka, they have been outstanding when on song. Admittedly, India did peg them back in their last outing, restricting them to 152/9 before chasing it down in 17.3 overs. However, they have a few players in form who could trouble Bangladesh, the Kusals – Mendis and Perera – foremost among them.

Kusal Mendis has scored half-centuries in his last two matches for Sri Lanka Kusal Mendis has scored half-centuries in his last two matches for Sri Lanka

In the previous clash between these sides last week, Mendis and Perera both scored half-centuries and put on an 85-run stand, helping Sri Lanka to 214/6. Bangladesh survived that chase in a thriller, with Iqbal and Liton Das playing strong hands to go with Rahim’s 35-ball 72*. They might have to do it all over again, but Sri Lanka, without the suspended Dinesh Chandimal again, will be driven – it is, after all, a celebration of 70 years of their independence and making the final will make everyone at home happy.

This clash might, therefore, largely depend on whether, and to what degree, the in-form players in each side come good.

Key players

Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka): While both Mendis and Perera have been in rich form, the former is perhaps more of a danger. His strike rate after three games stand at 166.21 to Perera’s 160.67, and he has scored consecutive half-centuries in his last two outings. If Bangladesh nip him out early, Sri Lanka might find themselves under pressure.

The in-form Mushfiqur Rahim is expected to play a big role in the crunch clash The in-form Mushfiqur Rahim is expected to play a big role in the crunch clash

Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh): Rahim has been in impeccable form for Bangladesh, scoring unbeaten 72s in his last two outings. It’s propelled him to second on the run-charts, behind Shikhar Dhawan. He took the game away from Sri Lanka in their previous clash, and the home side will be conscious of that.

Conditions

The weather has largely been cricket-friendly in Colombo over the course of the tournament, with almost all matches being played in full. That said, rain affected the clash between India and Sri Lanka on Monday, and more of it is forecast for Friday. The match might be interrupted at some stage, and it might even make things favourable for the pacemen.

Squads

Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dananjaya de Silva

Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Hider, Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque, Nazmul Islam, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan

-ICC