Mendis and Nissanka fire Sri Lanka to dominant win over Bangladesh
PALLEKELE: Sri Lanka turned a potentially tricky chase into a highlight-reel exhibition, sprinting to 158 for 3 with an over to spare after Kusal Mendis cracked a 27-ball Fifty and Pathum Nissanka bludgeoned 42 from just 16 deliveries. Their 78-run opening stand, compiled in a frenetic 28 balls, left Bangladesh’s 155 for 5 looking positively modest.
The pair’s most explosive burst came in the space of six deliveries spanning overs 2.4 to 3.3: Nissanka took Tanzim Hasan for 6-4-4; Taskin Ahmed then disappeared for 6-4-6 at Mendis’s hands, the last a breathtaking slog-sweep over deep square. By the time Nissanka departed, he was striking at 263, with Mendis not far behind at 233—momentum Bangladesh never recovered from.
Yet the foundation was laid earlier with the ball. Captain Dasun Shanaka’s cleverly-varied short lengths yielded just 22 from four overs, while leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay choked the middle overs. Bangladesh, inexplicably cautious, crawled from 57 for 1 after seven overs to 122 for 4 after 17—a 60-ball stretch worth only 65 runs despite wickets in hand. Litton Das (6 off 11) and Towhid Hridoy (10 off 13) stalled, and although Mohammad Naim carried his bat for 32 off 29, the innings never caught fire.
Sri Lanka’s emphatic response—78 in the first five overs—underscored the gulf in intent. With Mendis and Nissanka blazing, the rest merely had to tap the ball around to complete a victory that, thanks to early discipline and unrelenting aggression, never felt in doubt.
