Dubai, Sep 1: Tail-ender Asitha Fernando showed exceptional composure under pressure to hit two match-defining boundaries that took Sri Lanka to the Super Fours of the Asia Cup with a thrilling two-wicket victory over bitter rivals Bangladesh here on Thursday.
Chasing a target of 184, Sri Lanka won with an anti-climax reserved for the final over when of-spinner Mahedi Hasan overstepped while bowling the third delivery bringing down curtains on the game.
While Kusal Mendis (60 off 37 balls) and skipper Dasun Shanaka (45 off 33 balls) set up the victory, it wouldn’t have been possible without Fernando’s brilliant temperament.
Debutant Fernando first hit the last ball of the 19th over by Ebadot Hossain (3/51 in 4 overs) for a boundary to bring the equation down to eight runs in one over.
With Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan having already exhausted Mustafizur Rahaman’s quota of overs, he had no option but to give inexperienced Mahedi the ball and Fernando slog swept his second delivery to seal the fate of the game, which could have belonged to Ebadot.
To rub it in, the Sri Lankans did the ‘Nagin Dance’ patented by the Bangladeshi cricketers as the pre-match build-up has been anything but sober.
Ebadot bowled a good first spell of two overs with three short balls that accounted for three Lankan batters.
His pace bowling partner Taskin Ahmed also used the bumper to get rid of the fourth Sri Lankan batter in Bhanuka Rakapaksa.
Earlier, Bangladesh youngsters Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain played impactful knocks at various stages of the innings to help their team reach a commanding 183 for seven. Afif (39 off 22 balls) and Mahmudullah (27 off 22) added 57 runs in just 6.1 overs for the fifth wicket to ensure that Bangladesh lay the platform to cross the 180-run mark.
Then Mosaddek played a brilliant cameo, smashing 24 off nine balls to help Bangladesh reach a more than respectable total.
The match that garnered a lot of attention due to a statement by Sri Lankan skipper Shanaka and a counter-reply by Bangladesh team manager Sujon, saw both the teams scrap it out. (PTI)
