Skipper Shanto stars to level series 1-1

Najmul Hossain Shanto was the star of the show as the captain led from the front and helped Bangladesh level the T20I series against Sri Lanka 1-1 by winning the 2nd match by seven wickets at Sylhet on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka batted first and scored 165-5 in their 20 overs and in reply, Bangladesh chased it down with 11 balls to spare.

Shanto's innings of 53 not out from 38 balls came at a time when the left-handed batter was under immense pressure to deliver with the bat after having a torrid time in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Bangladesh got off to a good start in the chase with Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das forming a 68-run partnership.

But that partnership wasn't without controversy as in the first ball of the fourth over, Soumya was given out, caught behind, off the bowling of Binura Fernando.

The left-hand batter immediately went for a review after that, and third umpire Masudur Rahman deemed there to be a gap between bat and ball even though there was a spike on the Snikco meter. 

The on-field decision of out by umpire Gazi Sohel was overturned as the third umpire Masudur explained that the spike happened after the ball had passed the bat and there was a clear gap between bat and ball.

This caused the Sri Lankan players to get very upset over the decision with their Test opener Dimuth Karunarantne also posting about the decision on his X account with pictures showing the Snicko meter spike and the caption "How (did) he overturn this decision?"

Litton and Soumya were both dismissed by Matheesha Pathirana in quick succession and that gave the visitors an opening with Bangladesh at 83-2.

However, Shanto and Tawhid Hridoy (32 from 25 balls) steadied things again with an 87-run partnership to guide the Tigers home.

Earlier, Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka hit some big blows in their sixth-wicket partnership of 53 from 37 balls to take Sri Lanka to a competitive total of 165-5.

Having won the toss and with Shanto once again choosing to field, Bangladesh's bowlers started off well, bowling eight dot balls in a row.

That brought about their first wicket, that of Avishka Fernando who went for a duck, caught and bowled by Taskin Ahmed.

Shoriful Islam was also bowling well, from the other end, but the Sri Lankan batters weathered the early storm and started to counter-attack.

The left-arm pacer though was the pick of the bowlers giving away just 20 runs in his four overs although he didn't take any wickets. 

Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis then formed a 66-run partnership to bring the visitors back into the game.

But then an inspired bowling change from Shanto - bringing Soumya into the attack - brought the wicket of Kusal, who scored 36 from 22 balls. 

The wicket of Kamindu fell soon after due to a mix-up and he was run out for 37 from 27 balls as the Tigers started to claw their way back. 

The next to go was the in-form Sadeera Samarawickrama who always loves to score against Bangladesh with an average of 64 and 256 runs in all formats against them. 

He was gone for just seven and Sri Lanka all of a sudden found themselves at 92-4 in the 13th over, caught and bowled by Mustafizur Rahman. 

Another in-form batter, their stand-in captain Charith Asalanka was dismissed soon after he played a few big shots by Mahedi Hasan, who was not having a great day with the ball. 

Mahedi eventually finished with figures of 39-1 in his four overs and Asalanka was dismissed for 28 from just 14 balls. 

That brought in the experienced duo of Mathews (32 from 21 balls) and Shanaka (20 from 18 balls) who ensured the Lankans finished off well.