Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Live 1st T20: Bangladesh host Sri Lanka in the first of a two-match T20I series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday, February 15.
The hosts are heading into the T20I rubber, hoping for change in fortunes as they were outplayed by the islanders in both the 50-over and Test formats.
Sri Lanka had won the tri-series, which also involved Zimbabwe. and also went on to beat Bangladesh 1-0 in the recently-concluded two-match Test series.
Notably, Bangladesh were thrashed by 215 runs in Dhaka in the second Test after spinners Rangana Herath and Akila Dananjaya created problems on a track that spun from Day 1.
Sri Lanka looking to end T20I losing streak
Dananjaya will be the key man for the visitors as they look to end an eight-match losing streak, which began when they lost the final T20I of two-match series in Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in April last year.
The right-arm off-break bowler, who picked up 10 wickets from two Tests, has quite a lot of variations, which will come in handy in the shortest format.
Sri Lanka though will miss big-hitting batsman Kusal Perera due to a side-strain but have in-form Kusal Mendis available for selection. The 23-year-old middle order batsman hit 271 runs in the Test series, including a 196 in the first match in Chittagong.
On the other hand, Bangladesh will be without all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who has picked up a finger injury. In his absence, Mahmudullah will be leading the team and he will be well-served if senior members Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim step up and deliver.
When does the Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Live 1st T20 match start and how to watch it online
The first T20I between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will start at 4:30pm IST, 5pm local time and 11am GMT.
Live streaming and TV coverage
- India: TV: Star Sports Select 2; Live streaming: Hotstar
- Bangladesh: GTV
- US: Willow TV
Full squads
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Isuru Udana, Shehan Madushanka, Amila Aponso, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Asitha Fernando.
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Ariful Haque, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider Rony, Abu Jayed, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Mithun.
