Liton out of words to describe Mushy’s innings

Liton Das's 19-ball 43 had given Tigers the impetus to chase down what had looked like an unassailable score posted by Sri Lanka but the right-hander, who was promoted up the order to put the Lankans under pressure from the word go was in awe of Mushfiqur Rahim's innings and he suggested that he does not quite have the words to describe the match-winning knock.

For context, when Sri Lanka posted 214 runs on the board, it was the highest total a team have scored at the R. Premadasa International Stadium. Bangladesh's highest T20 score ahead of last night was the 193 they had scored back in February this year at Dhaka. It needed a miraculous knock for Bangladesh to really even get close to the Lankan total let alone upstage it, but Mushfiqur was on hand to provide a glittering show of T20 batting. He mastered five boundaries and four massive sixes in his 35-ball 72 with some stupendous strokeplay.

Having got stuck into Jeevan Mendis in the 11th over --in just the second over since coming on, he then showed his T20 caliber with a six off Dashun Shanaka in the 12th over, where he backed away just a bit and as the bowler bowled it short outside the off stump he came back in to slash it over point for a lovely six. Along the way to his match-winning knock Mushfiqur kept playing shots that not many have seen in Bangladesh cricket. No wonder Liton was out of words.

"Actually I don't have words to explain what he did. The way he took control and handled things by himself in the end… You have seen him play. It was really extraordinary and outside our imagination," the right hander suggested.

Even a score of 200 would have been difficult to chase but in the end Mushfiqur finished with venom. Tigers will hope to remain in awe of their dimunitive right handed batsman.