At the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by a margin of five wickets to begin their 2023 Asia Cup campaign.
In order to win the first game, Sri Lanka first bowled Bangladesh out for 164 runs in 42.4 overs before scoring 165 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 39 overs.
Maheesh Theekshana claimed two wickets, while Matheesh Pathirana claimed four for the Lankans during his stint with the ball. Three players—Dhananjaya De Silva, Dunith Wellange, and captain Dasun Shanaka—each had a wicket at the conclusion of the innings.
The Bangla Tigers’ highest scorer was Najmul Hossain Shanto, who scored 89 runs after openers Tanzid Hasan and Mohammad Naim were both taken for ducks by Maheesh Theekshana and Dhananjaya De Silva respectively.
Shakib-al-Hasan, the team’s captain, was finally removed for 5 runs by Pathirana, who also eventually took the wickets of Takshin Ahmad and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Before Mustafizur Rahman was out for a duck, Dasun Shanaka scalped Towhid Hridoy for 20 runs. Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan were then both hit for 6 runs and 5 runs, respectively. Shoriful Islam didn’t lose.
Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne both lost early wickets, giving Sri Lanka’s attempt to reach the 165-run goal a rocky start. Islam scalped Nissanka for 14 runs while Taksin Ahmed sent Karunaratne back.
The early wickets raised questions about the match since Bangladesh was given a way in because of the early inroads made by their pacers. After losing several early wickets, the Lankans tried to strengthen their batting and put Mendis in to fill the hole. He was, however, ejected by Bangladesh captain Shakib.
Before Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka stabilized the Lankan innings, Mendis was removed by Shakib as the hosts were reeling at 43 for the loss of 3 wickets.
Samarawickrama was sent back to the hut by Mahedi Hasan after scoring 54 runs off of 77 deliveries. Shakib partially defeated Dhananjaya De Silva by scoring two runs.
But Asalanka’s calculated 62-run innings off of 92 balls assured that Sri Lanka would start the tournament with a victory.
