Bangladesh's Jaker Ali torments SL bowlers with maiden T20I fifty
Bangladesh's rising batting sensation Jaker Ali played an innings of character in the opening T20I against Sri Lanka in Sylhet. He played an attacking knock in a bid to rescue his side from a top-order collapse. Though Bangladesh fell short while chasing 207, Ali impressed many with his 34-ball 68 (4 fours, 6 sixes). This was his maiden T20I fifty.
A stunning knock from Ali
Bangladesh were reeling at 68/4 when Ali arrived in the middle. He joined forces with Mahmudullah and the duo tried to consolidate with a brief 47-run stand. Though the former did not get any potent support thereafter, he continued to fight alone. He went big in the end overs. Dasun Shanaka dismissed him in the last over as Bangladesh lost by three runs.
A look at his stats
This was Ali's maiden fifty in the format as he has raced to 106 runs across four games, striking at 137.66. He scored 199 runs for Comilla Victorians in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at a brilliant average and strike rate of 99.5 and 141.13, respectively. The 26-year-old has overall raced to 892 T20 runs at an average of 27-plus (50s: 4).
How did the game pan out?
Kusal Mendis (59) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (61*) consolidated with a 96-run stand after Sri Lanka lost two wickets in the powerplay. Both batters slammed fifties as the hosts posted 206/3 in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Bangladesh suffered early inroads before Mahmudullah and Ali came to their rescue. The former scored a fighting 54. Angelo Mathews and Shanaka claimed two wickets apiece.
