The right-hander arrived to the crease in the very first over of the innings after opening batsman Mohammad Mithun departed without troubling the scorers. Things turned from bad to worse when opener Soumya Sarkar was soon dismissed; the hosts stuttering on 2/2 inside the second over. Sabbir however, fronted up to the challenge of rescuing his side, launching a counter-attack against the opposition bowlers. He blasted 18 runs off one Nuwan Kulasekara over, including a scintillating six over the long-on region.
Attack
The pitch might have had a lot of purchase for the seamers but Sabbir did not pay any heed to that as he persisted with his attacking approach. The elegant batsman kept stroking the odd four and six here and there, ticking along the scoreboard nicely. His quick singles and doubles made life difficult for Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews who had to change his fielders’ positions on a regular basis.
Elegance
Although Sabbir took just 54 balls to register his career-best score of 80, he did not appear over-excited and there was no case of a rush of blood. He was coolness personified and his elegant cover drive off Thisara Perera in the sixth over was probably the shot of his knock.
Responsibility
The Rajshahi lad never looked like throwing his wicket away. The 24-year old understood the demand of the situation and ensured of staying at the wicket as long as possible. He batted through the 16th over of the innings and made sure Bangladesh posted a challenging total.
