Sri Lanka knocks out Bangladesh by 2 wickets in a thriller

Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 2 wickets in an absolute thriller to qualify for the super four stage of Asia Cup 2022. Bangladesh on the other hand have been eliminated from the tournament as they lost both their group matches to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

The match was like a do-or-die situation for both the teams to go forward as they both lost their opening matches from Afghanistan.

The hosts Sri Lanka in the end held their nerve and capitalized on the usual mistakes made by the Bangladesh team in crucial moments.

Sri Lanka elected to bowl first after winning the toss and started well as Bangladesh lost the opener, Sabbir Rahman, in only the 3rd over of the inning.

Mehidy Hasan then recovered the inning with skipper Shakib as they both added 39 runs for the 2nd wicket before Bangladesh lost 3 wickets inside 29 runs.

Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah then put up the only half-century stand of Bangladesh innings and took the team total near the 150-run mark. Both were dismissed in the 16th and 17th over respectively followed by Mosaddek's unbeaten 24-run cameo who took the team total to 183/7 in their 20 overs.

Wanindu Hasaranga was quite expensive with the ball but alongside Chamika Karunaratne managed to pick 2 wickets. They were well supported by other bowlers Asitha Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka who all took a single wicket each. 

Chasing the target, Sri Lanka had a brilliant and quick start to their inning but lost two wickets inside the powerplay. Kusal Mendis on the other hand continued to play his shots and was scoring aggressively.

He was running out of partners as the middle order failed to contribute and were dismissed cheaply. Skipper Dasun Shanaka then joined Mendis and they both put up a 54-run stand for the 5th wicket.

The latter went to score the 7th half-century of his T2O career before getting dismissed by Mustafizur for 60 runs in the 15th over. Shanaka on the other hand looked confident for his 45 runs but was undone by Mahedi Hasan with SL still needing 26 runs.

The turning point proved to be the few no-balls bowled by Bangladesh bowlers in crucial situations which cost them the match in the end. Asitha Fernando scored 10 runs off 3 balls to finish the match for his team with four balls to spare.

Bangladesh on the other hand were brilliant in the field with their catching but gave 17 extra runs out of which 8 were wides and 4 were no balls.

Ebadot took 3 wickets but was too expensive as he gave away 51 runs in his quota of four overs. Taskin was magnificent both in the field and with the ball as he took two catches and 2 wickets for just 24 runs in his four overs.

Kusal Mendis who smashed 4 fours and 3 sixes for his remarkable innings of 60 runs in just 37 balls was adjudged as player of the match

Bangladesh will look to identify and improve their mistakes of the Asia Cup to make a mark in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia as said by the skipper Shakib Al Hasan after the match.