Sadeera Samarawickrama shines versus Bangladesh, registers his highest T20I score
Sri Lanka's star batter Sadeera Samarawickrama gave Bangladesh bowlers a hard time in the opening T20I in Sylhet. He put up a batting exhibition and ended up scoring an unbeaten 61 off 48 balls (8 fours, 1 six). This was his second T20I fifty and also his highest score in the format. Here we look at his T20I stats.
A find hand from Samarawickrama
SL lost Avishka Fernando (4) cheaply after being put on to bat first. Kamindu Mendis also departed after scoring 19 as Samarawickrama arrived with the scorecard reading 37/2. He joined forces with Kusal Mendis (59) as the duo added 96 runs for the third wicket. After Mendis's departure, Samarawickrama found another potent partner in Charith Asalanka (44*). They added 73 runs in no time.
A look at his T20I numbers
The 28-year-old Samarawickrama smashed his second fifty in the format. He also brought up his highest score. With this knock, Samarawickrama has raced to 296 runs from 16 T20Is at 21.14. He owns a strike rate of 112.54. He now boasts 2,448 runs from 97 T20s at an average of around 30. He has hammered 15 fifties and a ton in T20s.
Sri Lanka post a strong total
As mentioned, Mendis and Samarawickrama consolidated with a 96-run stand after Sri Lanka lost two wickets in the powerplay. The former also slammed a fine fifty (59 off 36) as the hosts posted 206/3 in their allotted 20 overs. Asalanka (44* off 21) also played a brilliant cameo in the end overs. Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, and Rishad Hossain claimed one wicket apiece.