Sri Lanka 7-168 (Kusal Perera 64, Nuwan Kulasekara 31, Arafat Sunny 2-17) beat Bangladesh 7-166 (Anamul Haque 58, Tamim Iqbal 30, Kulasekara 2-29, Thisara Perera 2-42) by two runs.

The Lankan Lions won the opening Twenty20 on the final ball of the nail-biting opening game besides valiant efforts from Anamul Haque of the Bengal Tigers.

The Islanders smashed 168 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs and the hosts managed 7-166 after the required overs.

Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his excellent knock of 64 while opening the innings.

The First Twenty20 of the two match series was played on Wednesday, February 12, 2014, at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittaging.

Earlier, Mashrafe Mortaza, the skipper of Bangladesh, won the toss and offered the batting to Sri Lanka who lost their first wicket at seven. The Islander’s captain, Dinesh Chandimal along with Kusal Perera opted to attack and enhanced the score to 56 in five overs with 1 six and 9 fours. The first was gone for 18 and the rival bowlers penetrated through the middle order batting. Perera powered his fifty on the 32^nd ball and became the fifth victim at 116 after scoring 64 off 44 balls with 1 six and 7 fours. Nuwan Kulasekara contributed 31 quick fired runs while the visitors amassed 7-168 at the end of the 20^th over.

Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan and Arafat Reza were the successful bowlers with two wickets each.

Tamim Iqbal and Shamsur Rahman provided a flying start to their side by thrashing 52 in 6 overs. The latter was gone for 22 and his partner departed at 64 for 30 when Anamul Haque and Shakib Al Hasan got together in the center. They kept the chase alive but the latter surrendered his wicket for 26 as the total touched 107. Anamul Haque kept on cruising at a reasonable pace but the wickets kept on sliding at the other end. Bangladesh required 17 runs from the last six deliveries and he attained his maiden T20 fifty in the process. Anamul Haque was dismissed on the final ball of the match for 58 as the hosts reached 7-166.

Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera were the top wicket takers with two each whereas Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis claimed one wicket each.

Sri Lanka triumphed in the thrilling encounter by a margin of two mere runs and leads the series 1-0.