Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets to reach final

Sri Lanka have put in a complete performance in the must-win game against Bangladesh and have thumped them by 10 wickets. The clinical victory for Sri Lanka meant Zimbabwe have been knocked out of the tournament now as the same teams will now clash for the title on Saturday. The visitors came out with an intent on the day and didn’t give any chance to the hosts to come back in the game. However, their confidence would be sky high after such an outing and would believe that they could win the final as well.

Bangladesh won the toss once again and opted to bat as the pitch in Dhaka has continued to deteriorate as it was hosting the 6th match in almost 10 days. They also brought in Abul Hasan in place of Sunzamul Islam to test the youngster ahead of the mega-finale. Sri Lanka, however, drafted in Danushka Gunathilaka to replace the injured Kusal Perera.

The home side got off to a dreadful start with Suranga Lakmal rocking with the new ball. He first castled Anamul Haque for a six-ball duck after which he sent back the in-form Tamim Iqbal. In between, it was a complete misunderstanding in the middle as Shakib Al Hasan was also run-out to leave the team struggling at 16/3 in the fifth over. It was once again up to the middle-order to resurrect the innings and they were under immense pressure having failed to do so in the last game against Zimbabwe.

But they failed yet again as wickets kept on falling with the wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim looking solid at the other end. He was left stranded with all the madness of his teammates. The likes of Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman could only score 7 and 10 runs respectively as it seemed that the writing was on the wall for them. Rahim though fought a lone battle and scored 26 runs off 56 deliveries. But even he was scalped by Dushmantha Chameera who was excellent with his lines and lengths

Eventually, after the wicket of Rahim, the proceedings were brought to the screeching halt by the visitors as they bundled Bangladesh out only for 82, their eighth-lowest total in ODIs, in 24 overs itself. While Lakmal picked three wickets, Chameera, Thisara Perera and Lakshan Sandakan scalped a couple each.

Sri Lanka had a straightforward chase on their hands with only 83 needed to seal their place in the finals. The openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Upul Tharanga looked in no trouble ever since they played their first ball. They tonked the ball all over the park as the hosts’ bowlers looked completely distraught. Also, the score was too low for them to try anything different.

The chase was gunned down by the opening duo itself in the 12th over. While Tharanga remained unbeaten on 39 with a solitary four and three maximums, his partner scored a run-a-ball 35 with three boundaries and a couple of sixes. It was a comprehensive victory for Sri Lanka which would infuse a huge belief in them to win the tournament after such a drubbing of the home side against whom they will play the final on January 27.

Suranga Lakmal was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match for his excellent spell upfront which toppled the batting line-up like a pack of cards. Bangladesh needed such a game after three dominant victories and will now focus more on the title clash against their neighbours.

Brief Scores

Bangladesh 82 after 24 overs (M Rahim 26; S Lakmal 3/21, D Chameera 2/6, T Perera 2/27, L Sandakan 2/24)

Sri Lanka 83/0 after 11.5 overs (U Tharanga 39*, D Gunathilaka 35*)