What a match! Last night Bangladesh and Sri Lanka did everything to deliver one of the greatest matches in the Asia Cup history. It was a nail-biting situation for Sri Lanka, tense for Bangladeshi bowlers, and most importantly one chance to secure the spot in the Super 4.
Sri Lanka not only booked their Super 4 spot but also took their revenge from Bangladesh after four years and it was memorable for the Sri Lankan team.
Despite being in a financial crisis, this win surely brought happiness to Sri Lankan fans out there. Dasun Shanaka’s captaincy was remarkable, he strategized everything as per the situation and each Sri Lankan player played like it was the last match of their life.
Before the match, things got heated between the two teams at the press conference where both sides commented on each other and criticized badly.
Bangladesh knocked out of Asia Cup
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first. Bangladeshi batsmen couldn’t stand in front of Sri Lankan bowlers, the same scenario took place against Afghanistan and their Sri Lankan bowlers managed to keep their control.
None of the Bangladeshi batsmen was able to score above 30 and bowled out in their 20s mainly. The skipper Shakib Al Hasan only scored 24 runs. Bangladesh in the end managed to set the total score of 183 runs.
Sri Lankan wicket Keeper Kusal Mendis played a marvelous inning and gave a strong start to his side. He got out in 60 which was a great wicket for Bangladesh.
The middle order badly struggled and one by one got out which eliminated the chances of Sri Lanka reaching Super 4.
The Skipper Dasun hold it back and played great innings to give hope to his team. But one bad shot got him out and relieved the Bangladesh team.
Last over was the thrilling one, where Fernando became the star and gave him the reason to celebrate in their style.
Nikhil Chopra praises Dasun Shanaka
After the great skipper innings by Dasun, Chopra said, “For me, the way skipper Dasun Shanaka batted when the wickets were falling and he looked to control the game. From a leader and a middle-order batter, you expect the same thing.”
“Earlier we were talking that how the top three batters in a team look to set the platform, but the middle-order batters have a tough job of finishing the game, especially in the 20 or 50 over match due to the asking run rate. For me, Shanaka was the stand-out performer for his team in a do or die game,” Nikkhil added.
Even Jayawardene tweeted after the winning, calling it a superb victory.
“Well done guys!!! Fantastic fight back to win this game under pressure.. safe to say it waworld-classlass performance,” wrote Jayawardene.
The final team for the Super 4
Today, Pakistan and Hong Kong clash to secure the spot in the Super 4. If any of them loses, then the losing team will face India on Sunday for the do-or-die match to book a Super 4 spot.
Two days back, Afghanistan had beaten Bangladesh to become the first time in the tournament to be in Super 4.
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