Sri Lanka registered a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in their opening fixtures in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. Batting first, Bangladesh managed to post only 164 runs on the board.
But it wasn’t enough as Sri Lanka chased down the total with 5 wickets and 66 balls remaining. Despite being riddled with injuries ahead of the tournament, the Sri Lankan side kept composure and proved that they mean business in the tournament.
The defending champions seem like a strong side and this victory would boost up their confidence levels in the remainder of the tournament.
In this article, we take a look at the top 3 talking points of BAN vs SL in Match 2 of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023:
1. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s mature knock went in vain
At a time when the batters of Bangladesh failed to get their bearings right and kept losing wickets, Shanto held the fort tightly from one end. He scored 89 runs in 122 balls and his innings was packed with 7 boundaries.
It was unfortunate that Najmul Hossain Shanto ended up being on the losing side as this was a very mature knock from the 25-year-old southpaw.
2. Matheesha Pathirana’s fabulous bowling
Youngster Matheesha Pathirana had a fantastic outing in Match 2 of Asia Cup 2023 and he simply run riot of the opposition batters. He bagged 4 wickets and made sure that Sri Lanka had the upper hand after the end of the 1st innings.
Pathirana’s wickets included Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman. All these wickets were priceless and made sure that Bangladesh had their backs against the walls in this match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023.
Matheesha Pathirana will be a crucial cog in the wheels of Sri Lanka in the remainder of this tournament. The spinners might not have ad advantage in this tournament in the 2nd innings because of the dew factor and thus, the pacers will swing into action.
3. Charith Asalanka’s good innings
Charith Asalanka played an innings full of substance and skill and made sure that Sri Lanka win the game. Despite Bangladesh beginning the 2nd innings on a positive note with 3 wickets in their kitty, Asalanka didn’t wilt under pressure.
He scored an unbeaten knock of 62* runs in just 92 deliveries and took Sri Lanka over the line in this match. Asalanka’s innings was peppered with 5 fours and 1 six and he had a strike-rate of 67.39.
Also read: 3 Reasons Why Sanju Samson Deserves More Chances In The Indian Team
