Mendis was the top-scorer with his 70 Getty Images
Mendis was the top-scorer with his 70 Getty Images

Sri Lanka posted a challenging target of 211 for Bangladesh in the 2nd T20I of the series. The hosts elected to bowl in what was the first international match in the history of Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. However, the bowlers could not to justice to the decision, failing to form a lethal attack. Sri Lanka were off to a brilliant start, courtesy Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka, which resulted in a massive target for Bangladesh to level the series against Sri Lanka who have a 1-0 lead.

The regular Bangladesh bowlers hardly showed any game-plan and were thrashed brutally by the aggressive batting of Gunathilaka and Mendis. None of the batsmen showed any mercy and hammered whatever came their way. While aggression comes naturally to Gunathilaka, Mendis broke his shell to match up to his partner, scoring 70 off 42 at a strike rate over 166.

Soumya Sarkar gave Bangladesh their first breakthrough, breaking the 98-run opening stand and sending Gunathilaka back for 42. However, this barely affected the scoring rate. Mendis was joined by Thisara Perera in the middle and both kept scoring fast.

Even after the dismissals of Mendis and Thisara, Dasun Shanaka and Upul Tharanga kept the scorecard ticking. Sri Lanka finished with 210 for 4 on the board in pursuit of consecutive series win. Bangladesh debutant Abu Jayed bagged his maiden international wicket.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 210 for 4 in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 70, Danushka Gunathilaka 42, Thisar Perera 31; Abu Jayed 1 for 45, Mustafizur Rahman 1 for 39) against Bangladesh.