Pallekele, Aug 31: Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka made resolute fifties after Matheesha Pathirana’s hostile bowling as Sri Lanka slayed Bangladesh by five wickets in their Asia Cup opener here on Thursday.
Pacer Pathirana’s 4 for 32 restricted Bangladesh to 164. The home side then rode on Samarawickrama’s 54 off 77 balls and Asalanka’s unbeaten 62 off 92 balls to overhaul the target in 39 overs.
But Lanka had to overcome a few uncomfortable moments before that.
Bangladesh bowlers had reduced Sri Lanka to 43 for three in 9.2 overs, dragging their side back into the match after their batsmen’s shoddy effort.
Samarawickrama had an equally composed partner in Asalanka as they produced 78 crucial runs for the fourth wicket. But off-spinner Mahedi Hasan snapped the partnership.
Bangladesh did get a couple of quick wickets, but they just did not have enough runs on the board to defend.
For that, Sri Lanka should thank their bowlers who worked around a resilient fifty by Najmul Shanto, who made 89 off 122 balls with seven fours.
However, other batsmen did not pick up any hint from Shanto as Pathirana and spinner Maheesh Theekshana (2/19) combined to strike at regular intervals after Bangladesh opted to bat first.
Theekshana partnered with Pathirana to reduce Bangladesh to 36 for three.
The fourth wicket alliance between Shanto and Towhid Hridoy (20) saw Bangladesh adding 59 runs in nearly 14 overs.
However, Lanka captain Shanaka ended the blooming alliance while winning a leg-before appeal against Hridoy.
Pathirana returned to end the stay of veteran Mushfiqur Rahim, whose attempted upper cut was snaffled by Chamika Karunaratne near third man.
With the cream of their batting returned to the pavilion, Shanto was Bangladesh’s remaining hope to reach a competitive total. However, Theekshana ended Shanto’s tenure at the crease.
Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 164 in 2.4 overs.
Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will now travel to Pakistan to face Afghanistan in their respective group matches. (PTI)
