Sri Lanka produced a solid performance in their opening match of the Asia Cup 2025 beating Bangladesh by 6 wickets with 32 balls to spare in their Group B encounter played at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday evening.
Reporting from Abu Dhabi
As expected, Sri Lanka fielded three frontline seamers and opted to bowl first on a seamer-friendly surface. The islanders were off to a dream start with the ball. Nuwan Thushara castled Tanzid Hasan with a brilliant inswinger, delivering a wicket maiden in the first over. Dushmantha Chameera followed it up with another wicket maiden, this time getting Parvez Hossain Emon caught behind.
In a rare cricketing feat, Sri Lanka became just the third full-member team to bowl two consecutive maiden overs at the start of a T20I innings. This achievement puts them in an exclusive group with the West Indies, who did it against Zimbabwe in 2010, and Australia, who accomplished the same against the UAE in 2018.
After Towhid Hridoy got a reprieve through Charith Asalanka, Kamil Mishara found him short of his crease with a direct hit on the very next delivery as he attempted a third run.
Despite Dasun Shanaka leaking 14 runs in the final over of the powerplay, Bangladesh managed only 30 runs in six overs. After the powerplay was over, Wanindu Hasaranga, who returned to the side after an injury, struck gold, trapping Mahedi Hasan plumb in front.
The dangerous Litton Das was saved by DRS, yet Hasaranga struck in his next over to dismiss the Bangladesh captain, who attempted a reverse sweep but gloved it to the wicketkeeper.
- Asian Cricket Council from humble beginnings to centre stage
- Photos – Sri Lanka Practice Session ahead of Bangladesh match | Asia Cup 2025
- WATCH – Sri Lanka’s Intense Practice Session Before Bangladesh Clash – #AsiaCup2025
Shamim Hossain and Jaker Ali added a crucial, unbeaten 86-run partnership for the sixth wicket to get Bangladesh out of a difficult position of being 5 down for 53. It’s also the highest for Bangladesh for the sixth wicket or below in T20Is, bettering the 82-run stand between Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain for the seventh wicket against Zimbabwe in Mirpur, 2019.
Dushmantha Chameera was the pick of the bowlers with a stunning spell, brilliant at both the start and the death, finishing his four overs with just 19 runs and taking one wicket.
Chasing 140 runs to win, Bangladesh removed Kusal Mendis early. However, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara hammered the Bangladesh bowling to all parts of the ground—scoring 103 runs in the first 10 overs to put the game to bed.
They managed to get 55 runs off the powerplay overs. Mishara, dropped on 1, started slowly but came back strongly to hit a six and two boundaries off Shoriful Islam to break the shackles.
The ever-reliant Pathum Nissanka became the fastest Sri Lankan to reach 2000 runs in Men’s T20Is, achieving the milestone in just 69 innings. He’s only the third Sri Lankan batter to score 2000 runs in Men’s T20Is.
Soon after reaching his 16th T20I half-century, Nissanka was caught brilliantly at the boundary rope, ending a match-winning 95-run partnership for the second wicket.
Sri Lanka, in search of quick runs to improve their net run rate, lost Kusal Perera and Dasun Shanaka cheaply. But Kamil Mishara remained solid to finish off the game with skipper Charith Asalanka.
With this resounding win, Sri Lanka will look to seal their place in the Super Four stage when they take on Hong Kong China in their next game on September 15th in Dubai.
Bangladesh – 139/5 in 20 overs: Litton Das 28, Shamim Hossain 42*, Jaker Ali 41*, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/25, Dushmantha Chameera 1/17, Nuwan Thushara 1/17.
Sri Lanka – 140/4 in 14.4 overs: Pathum Nissanka 50, Kamil Mishara 46*, Mahedi Hasan 2/29.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanzid Hasan | b Nuwan Thushara | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Parvez Hossain Emon | c Kusal Mendis b Dushmantha Chameera | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Liton Das | c Kusal Mendis b Wanindu Hasaranga | 28 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 107.69 |
| Towhid Hridoy | run out (Kamil Mishara ) | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 88.89 |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Jaker Ali | not out | 41 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 120.59 |
| Shamim Hossain | not out | 42 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 123.53 |
| Extras | 11 (b 2 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 139/5 (20 Overs, RR: 6.95) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 4.25 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 4.25 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Matheesha Pathirana | 4 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 10.50 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 6.25 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Shoriful Islam b Mahedi Hasan | 50 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 147.06 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Liton Das b Mustafizur Rahman | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Kamil Mishara | not out | 46 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 143.75 |
| Kusal Perera | lbw b Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Mustafizur Rahman b Tanzim Hasan Sakib | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Charith Asalanka | not out | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 250.00 |
| Extras | 21 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 0, w 16, pen 0) |
| Total | 140/4 (14.4 Overs, RR: 9.55) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoriful Islam | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 8.67 | |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 3 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 11.67 | |
| Tanzim Hasan Sakib | 3 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 7.67 | |
| Mahedi Hasan | 4 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 7.25 | |
| Rishad Hossain | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18.00 | |
| Shamim Hossain | 0.4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10.00 | |
