Fueled by Tanzid Hasan's well-composed 84 and a late cameo by Rishad Hossain, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in the third ODI of the three-match series and subsequently won the series by 2-1 on Monday in Chattogram.
Tanzid was not part of Bangladesh's initial playing XI. He was fielded as a substitute for Soumya Sarkar, who hurt himself during fielding. Tanzid took the chance and lived up to the expectations. He scored 84 off 81 runs – a record for scoring the most runs by a concussion substitute.
With the game hanging in the balance and 58 runs required, after Bangladesh lost sixth wickets by the dismissal of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain entered the crease and shifted the momentum decisively in Bangladesh's favour.
He plundered 16 runs off Wanindu Hasaranga in the 37th over, followed by a remarkable 24 runs in the 40th over, showcasing his impressive power-hitting abilities. Rishad's quickfire 48 off just 18 balls, punctuated by four sixes, proved to be the final nail in Sri Lanka's coffin.
Two overs later, in the 40th over, Rishad smashed 24 runs off Hasaranga with two sixes and four fours.
Rishad ended on 48 off 18 balls. In this late and short cameo, Rishand smashed the ball around the wicket— two of his four sixes came through the mid-wicket region, one over the square leg and the other over the cow corner. The young batter proved once again that he has ample shots in his bat. Earlier in the T20I-Series, he smashed seven sixes in an innings.
Bangladesh chased the below-par target of 236 with 58 balls to play.
For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Kumara took four for 48, his career-best, but he missed enough support from his fellow bowlers while defending a below-par total.
Earlier, Sri Lanka’s top and middle order tumbled. But Janith Liyanage's maiden ODI ton guided them to a score they could fight for. Their late order also faltered, and eventually, Sri Lanka was wrapped up for 235.
For Bangladesh, Taskin Ahmed led the bowling attack with three wickets, and Mustafizur Rahman, who has been going through a bad patch for a while now, took two wickets.
As the ODI series concluded, both the teams will now take on each other in a two-match Test series, with the first being played in Sylhet from March 22.
