Former champions Sri Lanka held their nerve to qualify for Super Four of the Asia Cup with a thrilling two-wicket win over Bangladesh in a crucial Group B match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on Thursday (September 1). While Sri Lanka and Afghanistan qualified for Super Four from Group B, it was the end of the tournament for Bangladesh, who lost both their matches. On the other hand, India have qualified for Super Four from Group A and the winner of the clash between Pakistan and Hong Kong on Friday will take the final slot.
Chasing a challenging total of 184, Sri Lanka started off well, scoring 48 runs in the powerplay. But they soon found themselves in trouble at 77/4 in the ninth over.
Though, the penultimate over eventually turned out to be a productive one for Sri Lanka, who managed 17 runs off Ebadot Hossain's over to bring the equation in their favour.
Sri Lanka needed 8 runs from 6 balls and Theekshana took a single in the first ball of that final over. Debutant Asitha Fernando (10 not out off 3 balls) then hit a much-needed boundary which was then followed by two runs off the next ball. Sri Lanka needed only 1 from 3 at that stage but it was then relayed to the on-field umpire that Mahedi had overstepped which gave the island nation a thrilling two-wicket win with two wickets in hand and four balls to spare. It was also the highest-ever successful run chase in UAE in T20Is, beating Afghanistan`s run chase of 180 against UAE in 2016.
Needless to mention, the Lankan Lions were pumped by the impressive victory of themselves and one of the Sri Lanka player celebrated the win with 'Nagin Dance'. The reason why Sri Lanka celebrated with a Nagin dance celebration was that in the 2018 Asia Cup, Bangladesh team did the same celebration after they knocked out the hosts.
Checkout the video here...
What a view
Nagin Dance By Chamika karunaratne #AsiaCupT20 #BANVSSL @ChamikaKaru29 pic.twitter.com/47yxsHLelL— Sumit Raj (@Iam_SUMITRAJ) September 1, 2022
Ebadot Hossain (3/51) was the most successful as well as an expensive bowler for Bangladesh while Taskin Ahmed (2/24), Mustafizur Rahman (1/32), and Mahedi Hasan (1/30) were the other wicket-takers.
2018 - Nagin Celebration by Bangladesh after knocking out Sri Lanka from Nidahas Trophy.
2022 - Nagin Celebration by Chamika Karunaratne after knocking Bangladesh out of Asia Cup. pic.twitter.com/Po7yhyeAb5
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 1, 2022
Earlier, the whole first innings of the game ebbed and flowed with both teams throwing punches at each other but eventually, Bangladesh were successful in putting on a competitive total of 183/7 in 20 overs.
Put into to bat first, Bangladesh promoted Mehidy Hasan Miraz (38 off 26) to open the innings and he gave them a flying start. However, Sri Lanka fought back with wickets at regular intervals in the middle overs.
Afif Hossain then came on and took the game by the scruff of the neck and slammed his way to a 22-ball 39, giving impetus to the innings. He put up a 57-run stand off 37 balls for the fifth wicket before getting out in the 17th innings.
Mosaddek Hossain (24 not out off 9) and Taskin Ahmed (11 off 6) carried forward that momentum and smashed 24 runs off 11 balls for the eighth wicket to take Bangladesh to 183-7.
For Sri Lanka, Chamika Karunaratne returned with figures of 2/32, while Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva scalped 2/41.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 183/7 in 20 overs (Atif Hossain 39, Mehdiy Hasan Miraz 38; Chamika Karunaratne 2/32) lost to Sri Lanka 184/8 in 19.2 overs (Kusal Mendis 60, Dasun Shanaka 45; Ebadot Hossain 3/51) by 2 wickets (With IANS inputs)
