Mendis, Shanaka and Asitha put Sri Lanka in the Super 4s
Bangladesh bow out of the Asia Cup, ruing mistakes they made on the field
Maharoof: would call Asitha Fernando a warrior
Sri Lanka 184 for 8 (Mendis 60, Shanaka 45, Ebadot 3-51) beat Bangladesh 183 for 7 (Afif 39, Mehidy 38, Karunaratne 2-32, Hasaranga 2-41) by two wickets
The sound of the no-ball siren was sweet music in Sri Lanka’s ears in Dubai. As soon as Asitha Fernando and Maheesh Theekshana ran two off the third ball of the last over, the TV umpire adjudged that offspinner Mahedi Hasan had overstepped, fatally, for the second time in the match. Sri Lanka had beaten Bangladesh by two wickets, to advance to the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup.
It sparked huge celebrations in the Sri Lanka dressing room and rounds of laughter as they couldn’t believe their string of luck in this crunch game. Asitha, on T20I debut, struck two fours in what turned out to be the last four balls of the match, before hitting the ball into long-on for the two that sealed the deal.
Bangladesh had hope when Mahedi removed Dasun Shanaka in the 18th over after the Sri Lanka captain struck a 33-ball 45 with three fours and two sixes. Then came a seesawing 19th over, bowled by another debutant in Ebadot Hossain, in which Sri Lanka scored 17 runs but also lost the dangerous Chamika Karunaratne, run out by a Shakib Al Hasan direct hit.
But it was Sri Lanka’s day, and it seemed fated to be so when Kusal Mendis survived four lives while scoring a 37-ball 60. He struck seven boundaries including three sixes, and Bangladesh were left ruing a dropped catch, a wicket chalked off when Mahedi bowled a no-ball, a missed run-out, and a review not taken.Bangladesh had a good outing with the bat, with Afif Hossain hitting 39 off 22 balls after Mehidy Hasan Miraz, playing his first T20I in four years, rocked Sri Lanka with a brisk start.
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