Tail-ender Asitha Fernando showed exceptional composure under pressure to reach two match-defining boundaries that took Sri Lanka to the Asian Cup Super 4 with a thrilling two-wicket win over bitter rivals Bangladesh here on Thursday. Sri Lanka chased a goal of 184 and won with an anti-climax reserved for the final when off-spinner Mahedi Hasan breached while bowling the third pitch. While Kusal Mendis (60 from 37 balls) and skipper Dasun Shanaka (45 from 33 balls) secured the win, it would not have been possible without Fernando’s brilliant temperament.
Debutant Fernando first skipped the last ball of the 19th from Ebadot Hossain (3/51 in 4 overs) for a boundary to narrow the comparison down to eight runs in one over.
Having already exhausted Mustafizur Rahaman’s surplus quota, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan had no choice but to hand the inexperienced Mahedi the ball and Fernando slog swept his second delivery to seal the fate of the match, which would otherwise be left to Ebadot. could have belonged.
To rub it in, the Sri Lankans did the ‘Nagin Dance’, patented by the Bengal cricketers, as the build-up for the match was anything but sober.
Ebadot, the high-spirited speedster, who is also a Bangladesh Air Force man, threw a good first period of two overs in which he threw three shorts that accounted for three Lankan batters.
His pace bowling partner Taskin Ahmed also used the bumper to clear the fourth Sri Lankan batter in Bhanuka Rakapaksa.
Incidentally, Sri Lankan skipper Shanaka had stated that Bangladesh had only two world-class bowlers in opposition skipper Shakib Al Hasan and cutter master Mustafizur Rahaman, something to which ‘Tigers’ manager Khaled Mahmud Sujon had made an exception.
However, Ebadot and Taskin set out to prove the Lankans wrong with their extra pace and bounce before Shanaka set out to prove himself as a fortune teller.
The 13th over of the innings yielded 22 runs when Shanaka Ebadot hit two sixes – one over the deep center of the wicket and the other, a pick-up pull behind the square. That was the turning point.
Mendis, who had kept the momentum on one side, finally perished after a well-made 60 off 37 balls with four boundaries and three sixes when his ramp shot was eroded in the third man area of Mustafizur’s delivery.
Shanaka went on bravely and touched those limits when he ran out of partners when Wanindu Hasaranga got out.
Shanaka (45 from 33 balls), who had to do the heavy lifting during the death-overs, eventually tried to play one shot too many as left arm spinner Mahedi got the crucial break.
Previously, Bangladesh youths Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain played high-impact punches at various stages of the innings to help their team reach an impressive 183 for seven. Afif (39 off 22 balls) and Mahmudullah (27 off 22) added 57 runs in just 6.1 overs for the fifth wicket to ensure Bangladesh laid the platform to exceed 180 runs.
Then Mosaddek made a brilliant cameo, hitting 24 from nine balls to help Bangladesh reach a more than respectable total.
The match which received a lot of attention from a statement from Sri Lankan skipper Shanaka and a counter reply from Bangladesh team manager Sujon saw both teams abolish it.
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After the first innings, it was ‘even stevens’, as Sri Lanka ‘without world-class bowlers’, as Mahmud had called the opposing attack, did well enough to 14th over, to lose the plot by the end.
Bangladesh, for their part, were able to claim the upper hand as despite losing wickets at regular intervals, they kept up the pace to eventually book a challenging total.
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