Bangladesh off-spinner Mahedi Hasan broke the 13-year-old record of Harbhajan Singh and made his country win a T20I series against Sri Lanka. The 27-year-old took 4 wickets in 11 runs at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup, bettering the 4 for 12 by the Indian legend against England, which was at the 2012 T20 World Cup. It was an excellent attempt by him, which assisted Bangladesh to record a thrashing win against Sri Lanka by 8 wickets and 21 balls to spare.

In this tour, Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka in the Test and ODI series but triumphed in the T20 series by winning 2-1. This became a huge milestone for Bangladesh cricket since they were struggling to maintain consistency, especially on foreign soil.

Mahedi returned to the team after being dropped from four consecutive matches and still could shift the momentum of the match in Bangladesh's favor. Striking with his very first delivery to dismiss Kusal Perera for a duck, and offspinner's tactical awareness and execution under pressure were exemplified by his dismissal of Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka, extracting just enough turn to beat the batsman's defensive push and crash into the off stump, surprising even the batter.

Sri Lanka's batting lineup never recovered from those early blows, collapsing to 66 for 5 by the 11th over as Mahedi continued his relentless assault. Pathum Nissanka provided the only meaningful resistance with a composed 46 off 39 balls, but even his dismissal came via a simple caught and bowled chance to the rampaging spinner. After over three years, Dinesh Chandimal's return to the T20I fold ended in disappointment when he top-edged a slog off Mahedi and was caught at point.

The hosts' final total of 132 for 7 owed much to Dasun Shanaka's explosive late hitting, with the all-rounder smashing 22 runs off the final over to give Sri Lanka some breathing. His unbeaten 35 off 25 balls, featuring two fours and two sixes, including one that sailed out of the stadium, at least gave the packed Khettarama crowd something to cheer about in an otherwise subdued evening.

The pursuit of Bangladesh started in a bitter-sweet tune as opener Parvez Hossain Emon got him lbw off the very first ball, bowled out by Nuwan Thushara. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka had any dreams about some chances of saving their low score after seeing their hopes burn in the bright flames of Tanzid Hasan's withdrawal. The left-handed Batman's 73 runs (47 balls) made without losing his wicket were a lesson on controlled aggression, consisting of 6 massive sixers, double the count of boundaries Sri Lanka took through the game.

The run-chase was effectively ended as Tanzid and Litton Das (74) set up shop at the crevice, and the partnership of 74 resulted in a solid and sturdy performance by Litton as he pitched in with a 32-run innings off 26 balls. Tanzid Hasan got his fifty only after 27 balls. Afterwards, he found the opportunity to accelerate further, but not at the cost of losing control. His last stand with Towhid Hridoy, who hit unbeaten 27, was cantering Bangladesh to an easy victory with over three overs to go.

Speaking after collecting the Player of the Match award, Mahedi revealed the tactical thinking behind his exceptional spell. "Last few ODIs here, we saw the ball was spinning, so I was just trying to get good lines and lengths. New ball also spun a bit, just wanted to put it in good areas," he explained.

It also represented some personal milestones, as it was Mahedi's 50th T20I wicket, but more to the point, it also saw the latter achieve the best figures among visiting bowlers in Colombo. He now stands above his old rival Harbhajan, but also fresh records by Josh Hazlewood of Australia (4 for 16 in 2022) and Joe Denly in England (4 for 19 in 2018). Sri Lanka is with one exception only: their own Wanindu Hasaranga has slightly superior T20I bowling figures at the venue, having taken 4 for 9 against India in 2021.

It is Bangladesh's second triumph over an opponent with a 1-0 lead, and it also marked the first time that a group of new players in Bangladesh cricket produced positive results in a three-T20I match.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will regret their failure to capitalize on their dominating run in the first game of the series. Although they have performed well in the long versions of the game in this tour, their T20I cricket remains a roller-coaster, which does not allow them to dominate consistently, even when they are playing on home soil. The inability to change tactics in the wake of the change of personnel in Bangladesh created an inflexibility in their strategic planning that had dearly cost them.