At a critical Group B encounter on Thursday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, former champions Sri Lanka maintained composure to defeat Bangladesh by two wickets and advance to the Asia Cup Super Four (September 1).
Bangladesh’s participation in the competition was over after they lost both of their matches, but Sri Lanka and Afghanistan advanced to the Super Four from Group B. However, India has advanced from Group A’s Super Four, and the winner of Friday’s match between Pakistan and Hong Kong will claim the final spot.
Sri Lanka got off to a strong start, scoring 48 runs during the powerplay while attempting to chase down a difficult total of 184. But when they were 77/4 in the ninth over, they quickly ran into difficulty. However, Sri Lanka eventually produced in the last over, scoring 17 runs off Ebadot Hossain’s over to tip the balance in their favor.
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What happened in the last over of Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka
The opening ball of that final over saw Theekshana take a single as Sri Lanka required 8 runs from 6 balls. A much-needed boundary was then struck by Asitha Fernando, who is making his debut (10 not out off 3 balls), and the next ball was followed by two runs.
At that point, Sri Lanka just needed one run from three, but it was later communicated to the on-field umpire that Mahedi had overstepped, resulting in an exciting two-wicket victory for the island nation with two wickets remaining and four balls to spare. It also surpassed Afghanistan’s run chase of 180 against UAE in 2016 to become the most successful run chase in UAE history in T20Is.
Watch how Sri Lanka celebrated
It goes without saying that the Lankan Lions were inspired by their great victory, and a player from Sri Lanka celebrated with the “Nagin Dance.” Because Bangladesh’s team performed the same celebration after eliminating the hosts at the 2018 Asia Cup, Sri Lanka chose to do the same.
The most effective and expensive bowler for Bangladesh was Ebadot Hossain (3/51); the other wicket-takers included Taskin Ahmed (2/24), Mustafizur Rahman (1/32), and Mahedi Hasan (1/30).
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