Watch: Rishad Hossain took Wanindu Hasaranga to the cleaners as an injury-hit Bangladesh clinched the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
With the three-match ODI series level 1-1, Sri Lanka won the toss, opted to bat, and were bowled out for 235 in the decider, at Chattogram. Janith Liyanage made 101 of these – his maiden hundred – off 102 balls, and remained not out.
Four Bangladesh cricketers either got injured or fell ill over the course of the Sri Lankan innings. Of them, Soumya Sarkar suffered a concussion, and had to be substituted by Tanzid Hasan Tamim.
Tanzid himself led Bangladesh’s response with an 81-ball 84 at the top, but Sri Lanka hit back, and Bangladesh slid from 105-2 to 130-5 and later 178-6. Bowling all-rounder Rishad Hossain joined Mushfiqur Rahim at this point.
Rishad had batted only once in his two ODIs before today, making four runs. In his only other List A innings, he had made 12 not out. However, he does have a T20 strike rate of 140. Coming to bat at 32-6 in a T20I against the same opposition nine days ago, Rishad hit seven sixes in a 30-ball 53 to take Bangladesh to 146.
Today, he launched an onslaught of comparable ferocity. Five balls remained in Wanindu Hasaranga’s over, who had, until then, figures of 7.1-0-24-2. Rishad slog-swept the first of these for six; and later in the over, he drove one through wide mid-on for four and slog-swept again for six.
Kusal Mendis switched Hasaranga’s ends, and he came on to defend 27 in 66 balls. This time Rishad smashed him for six, six, four, four, four in five consecutive balls. At 24 runs, this is now Hasaranga’s most expensive over in ODIs: he had conceded 20 against Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai at Pallekele last month.
Rishad finished with an unbeaten 18-ball 48 as Mushfiqur took two balls to finish the match in the 41st over.
Following the victory, Mushfiqur mocked Sri Lanka’s timed out celebration from earlier in the tour by celebrating with a broken helmet, referring the infamous timed out dismissal of Angelo Mathews at the 2023 World Cup.
Watch Rishad Hossain smash 48 in 18 balls to help Bangladesh win Sri Lanka series:
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