SL vs BAN: Bowlers, Samarawickrama overpower Hridoy to give Lanka close win

Towhid Hridy was the lone fighter for Bangladesh as the team crumbled en route the chase of 258 to lose by 51 runs and almost end its chances of qualifying for the final

All it needed was a pinpoint yorker from Matheesha Pathirana as he bowled Basum Ahmed to dash down any hopes of Bangladesh’s tail wagging and taking them to a win. The Tigers fell short yet again, this time by 21 runs against Sri Lanka in a Super4 tie at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in Asia Cup 2023. 

Pathirana along with skipper Dasuin Shanaka and Maheesh Theekshana were the three heroes for the Sri Lanka team which has now won three matches back to back. Towhid Hriday was the lone fighter for the Tigers with his 92-ball 89. This is also Bangladesh’s second loss in the Super4 and they now have only one game to play against India. 

Bangladesh started the chase positively with the openers Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mohammad Naim adding 55 for the first wicket in 11 overs. Sri Lankan Skipper Shanaka brought himself into the attack and got out both the openers. Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan failed big time. Hridoy was the only player with substantial display of fight against the trio of Shanaka, Theekshana and Pathirana. 

Earlier in the day, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis' fifties notwithstanding, Sri Lanka never really could slip into the overdrive, meandering to 257 for nine against Bangladesh in their Asia Cup Super 4 match here on Saturday.

Samarawickrama made 93 off 72 balls, Mendis 50 and Pathum Nissanka 40, yet the Sri Lankans might view this effort as a lost opportunity to be in a far stronger position.

Bangladesh were served well by Hasan Mahmud (3 for 57), while Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed shared five wickets among them equally.

If a few edges did not elude the Bangladesh fielders or they remained more alert, Sri Lanka could have been in deeper peril.

Samarawickrama's scintillating 93-run knock propelled Sri Lanka to a total of 257 runs. 

With PTI inputs