In the Asia Cup 2025 Group B match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi on September 13, the former team looked dominating and bagged a six-wicket win. At the toss, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka
emerged victorious and elected to field first. Nuwan Thushara and Dushmantha Chameera got the early scalps of Bangla openers Tanzid Hasan (0 off 6) and Parvez Hossain Emon (0 off 4) respectively. In the fifth over, Towhid Hridoy got run out and Bangladesh saw themselves reeling at a score of 11/3 in 4.3 overs. Mahedi Hasan, who came to bat at number five, also looked ineffective in the crunch situation. He fell against Wanindu Hasaranga after chipping in with only eight runs off nine balls.
Skipper Litton Das stood in the middle until the 10th over but he also couldn’t score runs at a rapid pace. His knock came to an end soon after scoring 28 off 26. Hasaranaga got him caught at the hands of wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis on DRS. Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain played the last 10 overs of the innings and amassed 86 runs. Jaker accumulated an unbeaten 41 off 34 while Shamim also scored an unbeaten 42 off 34. Their batting efforts helped Bangladesh reach 139/5 in their 20 overs.
Sri Lanka chased down the total comfortably in Asia Cup 2025 clash
Pursuing the low target, Sri Lanka lost their opener Kusal Mendis early but Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara looked relentless against the Bangla bowling attack. Both top-order batters stitched a 95-run partnership off just 52 balls. Nissanka brought his 16th T20I fifty in the 10th over of the innings and also completed his 2000 T20I runs for Sri Lanka. In the next over, Nissanka became the victim of Mahedi Hasan after amassing 50 runs off 34 balls.
After the 27-year-old’s departure, the six-time Asia Cup champions lost Kusal Perera and Dasun Shanaka in quick intervals but Mishara stood at the crease and took his team home with six wickets in hand and 32 deliveries to spare. Mishara scored an unbeaten 46 off 32 and captain Asalanka also contributed his 10 runs to the victory. Mishara's batting heroics also got him the player of the match (POTM) award.
