MIRPUR:
Bangladesh
rode on
Sabbir Rahman's (80, 10x4, 3x6) 54-ball blitz and a good allround bowling show to nail
Sri Lanka
by 23 runs at the Sher-eBangla National Stadium here on Sunday night.
The weekend crowd, which arrived in full force to cheer the home side, were first treated to some fine stroke-making by Sabbir who single-handedly propelled Bangladesh to 147 for 7 before the bowlers delivered the sucker punch against the Islanders in a crucial
Asia Cup encounter.
In pursuit of 148, Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan (12, 2x4) in the 4th over bowled by Shakib Al Hasan (2-21), thanks to a well-judged effort by Soumya Sarkar who ran from the mid-off region and completed the catch by laying both hands to the ball near the boundary after covering a distance of about 20 yards. No. 3 Shehan Jayasuriya (26, 1x4, 2x6) added 56 from 7.5 overs in the company of
Dinesh Chandimal (37, 4x4) that kept Sri Lanka in business. But the match turned on its head in the 11th over when Chandimal tried to essay a reverse-sweep off Mahmudullah (1-14) only for Taskin Ahmed at deep point to grab a simple catch.
Shakib, in the subsequent over, got Jayasuriya stumped to leave Sri Lanka at 77 for 3.When Thisara Perera joined Angelo Mathews in the middle, Sri Lanka needed 70 off 52.The 14th over saw Mustafizur Rahman (1-19) trap Perera (4) leg-before that reduced Sri Lanka to 85 for 4. Once Angelo (12), who looked listless during his 19-ball stay at the crease, was dismissed caught by Shakib off Al-Amin (3-34) in the 18th over, the lights went off Sri Lanka's chase as they finished at 124 for 8.
Earlier, Sabbir's innings gave Bangladesh impetus after they lost both openers -Mohammad Mithun and Soumya Sarkar -without scoring. By the time Sabbir was dismissed, he had laid a solid foundation for the hosts.