COLOMBO: Bangladesh skipper Liton Das says his team`s first ever T20 series win in Sri Lanka has been `huge` for his leadership and made the cricket-crazy fans back home happy.

Bangladesh hammered Sri Lanka by eight wickets on Wednesday in Colombo to clinch the three-match series 2-1 and cap off their tour of theisland nation on a high.

Chasing a modest 133 for victory, Bangladesh rode on opener Tanzid Hasan`s unbeaten 73 to achieve their target with 21 balls to spare at the R.

Premadasa Stadium.

Spinner Mahedi Hasan set up victory with figures of 4-11 to restrict Sri Lanka to 132-7 after the hosts elected to bat first.`It is a proud moment for me as a captain,` Liton said. `I am happy that the fans are also happy seeing us win a T20 series in Sri Lanka.

Liton, who was named Bangladesh T20 skipper until next year`s World Cup in India, led the T20 team in the absence of Najmul Hossain Shanto last year in a 3-0 series sweep in the West Indies.`Both series wins are huge for me, said Liton, who was named player of the series for his 114 runs in the three matches. `Beating the West Indies in their back yard is massive. They are a strong team in their conditions. It is the same in Sri Lanka. They are a balanced team too.

Sri Lanka, led by Charith Asalanka, won the ODI series 2-1 fol-lowed by victory in the opening T20 before they lost two straight matches by big margins.

`We are bitterly disappointed, said Asalanka. `We probably made a blunder at the toss. When I came on to bowl, I realised that the wicket had improved.

`We need to take responsibility for the way we batted. It can happen inone game but this happening in backto-back games is a huge concern.

`The World Cup is just seven months away and we can`t let these things happen. Credit to Bangladesh.

`They outperformed us. They fielded better than us and their bowlers were more effective than ours.

Their batsmen also had clear plans.`-AFP