SL vs BAN | 28-ball explosive opening stand helps Lions seal chase to go 1-0 up in T20I series

Asked to bat first, Parvez Hossain Emon declared his intentions early when he ferociously pulled the second ball of the innings for four. The opener then struck three boundaries in the fourth over, indifferent to the strugles of Tanzid Hasan at the other end who eventually departed for a less-than run-a-ball 16 to end a 46-run opening stand. With the score 54/1 at the end of the powerplay, the Tigers were well placed to push on until Dasun Shanaka and Jeff Vandersay put the squeeze with a 15-ball boundary less drought, at the end of which the latter scalped skipper Litton Das. Maheesh Theekshana made it a double whammy by dispatching Parvez four balls later. The eight-over spell between overs six and 14 yielded just 43 runs, with Shanaka also dispatching Towhid Hridoy for a scratchy 10 in the meantime. Were it not for a 23-ball cameo for 29 from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and a quickfire five-ball 14 by Shamim Hossain at the death, the Tigers would have been left stranded well-short of the eventual 154/5 despite the set Mohammad Naim ending unbeaten on 32 off 29.