Matheesha Pathirana picked up career-best figures of 4/32 as Bangladesh were bundled out for 164, before Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka both made half centuries to take Sri Lanka through to a win in their Asia Cup opener at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium.
The young slinger was brought into the attack in the 11th over and started with a wide – an unnerving sight for Sri Lankan fans, with so many of it’s first choice bowlers missing out. To the delight of the home crowd, the Pathirana got on target rightaway, picking up the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan in his 1st over.
He bowled with good pace and variation throughout the innings and the wicket of Shakib was crucial, but the performance was made even more special when he picked up the other key wicket in Mushfiqur Rahim. He also closed off the tail, dismissing Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur Rahman in the 43rd over for ducks to end the Bangladeshi innings.
The visitors were on the back foot right away after opting to bat first, losing debutant Tanzid Tamim in the 2nd over of the game to Mahesh Theekshana. They lost two more wickets quite quickly, stumbling to 36/3 with the dismissal of Shakib before Towhid Hridoy and Nazmul Hossain Shanto came together for a 59-run partnership.
The pair were looking good to make amends for the poor start when skipper Dasun Shanaka made the crucial breakthough to dismiss Hridoy, reviewing an LBW that was given not out on field.
Eventually they ended with a below-par 164. Shanto was the top-scorer with 89 but disappointingly for the Tigers, none of the other batters could go beyond the 20-run mark, with Hridoy (20), Mohammed Naim (16) and Mushfiqur Rahim (13) the only other to get into double figures.
The chase didn’t start well for the hosts, with Taskin Ahmed making the crucial breakthrough to send Dimuth Karunaratne back into the pavilion. Pathum Nissanka struck the ball well, while Kusal Mendis struggled to get going. Bother were dismissed without making any significant contributions, bring Samarawickrama and Asalanka together.
The pair played cautiously, putting together 78 off 19.5 overs, but the partnership put Sri Lanka in the driving seat. Samarwickrama fell after reaching his half century and Dhananjaya de Silva followed soon after, but Asalanka stuck around to take Sri Lanka home with 11 overs to spare.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Naim Sheikh | c Pathum Nissanka b Dhananjaya de Silva | 16 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 69.57 |
| Tanzid Hasan | lbw b Mahesh Theekshana | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Najmul Hossain Shanto | b Mahesh Theekshana | 89 | 122 | 7 | 0 | 72.95 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (vc) | c Kusal Mendis b Matheesha Pathirana | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Towhid Hridoy | lbw b Dasun Shanaka | 20 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 48.78 |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | c Chamika Gunasekara b Matheesha Pathirana | 13 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 59.09 |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | run out (Dhananjaya de Silva) | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Mahedi Hasan | lbw b Dunith Wellalage | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Taskin Ahmed | c Mahesh Theekshana b Matheesha Pathirana | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Shaiful Islam | not out | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | lbw b Matheesha Pathirana | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 164/10 (42.4 Overs, RR: 3.84) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 7 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 4.14 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 8 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 2.38 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 10 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 3.50 | |
| Matheesha Pathirana | 7.4 | 0 | 32 | 4 | 4.32 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 7 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 4.29 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 5.33 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Mushfiqur Rahim b Shaiful Islam | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 107.69 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | b Taskin Ahmed | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Kusal Mendis | b Shakib Al Hasan (vc) | 5 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 23.81 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | st Mushfiqur Rahim b Mahedi Hasan | 54 | 77 | 6 | 0 | 70.13 |
| Charith Asalanka | not out | 62 | 92 | 5 | 1 | 67.39 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | b Shakib Al Hasan (vc) | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Dasun Shanaka | not out | 14 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Extras | 13 (b 2 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 165/5 (39 Overs, RR: 4.23) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taskin Ahmed | 7 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 4.86 | |
| Shaiful Islam | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 5.75 | |
| Shakib Al Hasan (vc) | 10 | 2 | 29 | 2 | 2.90 | |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 5.20 | |
| Mahedi Hasan | 10 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 3.50 | |
