Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by five wickets
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by five wickets and 11 overs to spare in their opening Asia Cup fixture at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Left-handed batter Charith Asalanka scored an unbeaten 62 off 92 balls, while Sadeera Samarawickrama hit a 77-ball 54 to take Sri Lanka comfortably over the line.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Despite failing to make an impression with the bat, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan scalped two wickets giving away 29 runs from his full quota.
Mahedi sends back Samarawickrama but SL still on top
Bangladesh off-spinner Sheikh Mahedi bowled a doosra to fox out Sri Lanka batter Sadeera Samarawickrama but the hosts were well enroute to chase the Tigers' 164 with 123 for four on the board after 30 overs at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Sadeera scored a 77-ball 54 that featured six fours and stitched a 78-run stand with left-hander Charith Asalanka before he danced down the wicket only to see the off-spinner turn it away from him as wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim took off the bails on his second attempt.
Tigers get early breakthrough
Bangladesh pacers Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam gave the Tigers early breakthrough as they sent back both the Sri Lanka openers-- Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka-- within the first four overs of the innings.
Taskin castled Karunaratne for one run in the third over when he bowled it a full and straight one that had the slightest of in-swing to get past the batter's defence.
The following over, Shoriful nicked off Nissanka when he bowled a short and wide one. Instead of getting punishsed, Shoriful received elation as Nissanka could only manage contact in the form of a nick as departed after scoring a 13-ball 14 that included a solitary boundary
Tigers bundled out for 164
The Sri Lankan bowling effort seemed too difficult to handle for Bangladesh as the Tigers were bundled out for 164 after opting to bat first in their opening Asia Cup encounter at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Thursday.
Shanto led the lone battle with a 122-ball 89, and Towhid Hridoy struggled for his 41-ball 20 as no other batter could reach deliver anything of substance.
Following Maheesh Theekshana's mystifying eight over where he picked up two wickets while giving away just 19 runs, it was the Matheesha Pathirana show as the pacer picked up four wickets for 32 runs in his 7.4 overs.
Dhananjaya De Silva, Dasun Shanak, and Dunith Wellalage scalped one wicket each.
Shanto misses out on ton as Bangladesh are eight down
Najmul Hossain Shanto missed out on a hundred as he was castled by Maheesh Theekshana for a 122-ball 89 in the 42nd over leaving Bangladesh eight down for 162.
Shanto failed to get a read on Theekshana, who came in from from around the wicket and took the ball away to evade Shanto's outstretched attempt at fending it off.
Tigers are five down as Mushfiqur departs
Bangladesh were reduced to 127 for five after the end of the 33rd over as experienced batter Mushfiqur Rahim was dimissed by Matheesha Pathirana for a 22-ball 13-run knock.
Pathirana bowled it short and wide but Mushfiqur, who looked to play it over point, failed to direct his ramp shot away from the fielder at third man.
Shanto scores 50, Shanaka sends back Hridoy
Bangladesh batter Najmul Hossain Shanto scored his fourth ODI fifty but lost his partner Towhid Hridoy soon after following a 59-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Shanto put away four fours and remained unbeaten on 52 following the end of the 24th over, while Hridoy was dismissed lbw for a 41-ball 20 in the same over by Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka. This left the Tigers four down for 95 runs.
Pathirana sends back Shakib
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan couldn't make an impression with the bat as he was dismissed for an 11-ball five in the Tigers' Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Thursday.
Shakib slashed and managed to nick one to the keeper off a short and wide delivery bowled by pacer Matheesha Pathirana in the 11th over leaving the Tigers at 37 runs for the loss of three wickets following the completion of the 11th over.
Bangladesh lose both openers early
Bangladesh openers Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Mohammad Naim departed inside Powerplay to leave the Tigers at 25 runs for two wickets after the completion of the eighth over.
Tanzid had a debut to forget as he departed for a duck in only the second over of the innings. He failed to gather a read on Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the first ball of the second over as it rushed onto the pads.
In the very next delivery, Theekshana pushed it up and Tanzid failed to fend off a rather straight-forward delivery as the ball sneaked onto his back pad prompting the umpire to raise his hand.
Naim, on the other hand, managed to put away three boundaries for his 23-ball 16 before he came down the wicket and skied one off the bowling of off-spinner Dhananjaya De Sliva in the eighth over.
Tanzid debuts as Tigers opt to bat
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has won the toss and elected to bat in their Asia Cup 2023 opener against hosts Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy today.
Opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim made his debut, while all-rounder Sheikh Mahedi was named in the eleven for the first time since his debut series in New Zealand in 2021 as the Tigers went with three seamers and as many spin options.
Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Mustafizur Rahman makes up the pace unit as Hasan Mahmud had to sit out.
"It is a good toss to lose with rain around the corner," said Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka.
Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana
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