Sri Lanka made a winning start to their T20 World Cup campaign by beating Bangladesh by five wickets in Sharjah. The Lankans chased down 172 needed to win with utmost professionalism finishing the game with seven balls to spare. It was a bitter loss for the Bangladesh team who scored the runs with the bat but did not bowl and field well in crunch situations.
Charith Asalanka (80*) and Bhanuka Rajapaksha (53) added an 86-run stand in the middle overs to ensure that the Lankans get past the line with ease. A 22-run over from Mohammad Saifuddin in the death overs made the chase that bit easier for the Lankans.
Batting first Bangladesh scored 171/4 in their 20 overs with runs from Mohammad Naim (62) and Mushfiqur Rahim (57) Both teams were on par as the game went on but dropped catches from the Bangladeshi fielders made all the difference.
Liton Das dropped two crucial catches one each of Asalanka and Rajapaksha to give Sri Lanka a huge edge in the run chase. It was their partnership that sealed the game in the end for the Lankan side who have won each of the four games they played so far in the ICC T20 World Cup including the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Twitter was buzzing as they wished the Lankan side good wishes on pulling off their first win of the campaign.
Here Are Some Tweets Celebrating Sri Lanka’s Win
Sri Lanka continue their brilliant form at the #T20WorldCup 2021 đź’Ş#SLvBAN | https://t.co/BzVhmmE7u7 pic.twitter.com/Ie2ikp1Cv7
— ICC (@ICC) October 24, 2021
Loyalty is Bangladesh’s relationship with left/right spin v left/right batters. #T20WorldCup #SLvBAN
— Mohammad Isam (@Isam84) October 24, 2021
An impressive fightback from Sri Lanka with the bat, WinViz had given them just a 20% chance of winning this game at the halfway stage of this chase. #T20WorldCup #SLvBNG
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) October 24, 2021
It is common practice to have right-left batting pairs in the middle but the left-handed pair of Asalanka & Rajapaksa probably made Mahmudullah bowl Afif's off-spin in the 13th over with him turning the ball towards short boundary towards left-hander's offside.
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) October 24, 2021
https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1452265161884987394?s=20
What an incredible partnership from #Asalanka and #Rajapakse Congratulations #SriLanka for the victory.. #SLvBAN #T20WorldCup2021
— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) October 24, 2021
Excellent innings from excellent players well played Charith & Bhanuka
❤️❤️❤️ Good start n Super 12 lads..
Lets win one by one guys..👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻#SLvBAN #ICCT20WorldCup2021 #T20WorldCup2021— Dimuth Karunarathna (@IamDimuth) October 24, 2021
Fine win for #SL after losing four early wickets. Bangladesh should really have got 12-15 runs more, but lower middle order didn’t quite deliver
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 24, 2021
What a chase!! What a player #charithasalanka u beauty! @BhanukaRajapak3 was brilliant too! Way to go boys great effort by the entire team đź‘Źđź‘Ź
— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) October 24, 2021
“Happy that I could help Sri Lanka win the game. It looked like a very good pitch when I walked out to bat, so I tried to play my shots. Rajapaksha was the game changer, he played a few wonderful shots. I want to keep this up and keep winning games for my country” said Asalanka who was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his knock.
