Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Bangladesh reaches in the Asia Cup final after defeating Sri Lanka by 5-wicket

Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by 5-wicket and secured their place in the Asia Cup final for the first time. They sealed the much needed victory with 17 balls remaining at hand. They will now face Pakistan for the title clash on 22 March 2012.

This victory left India out of the tournament despite finishing level on points with Bangladesh. Because of their defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, they were left out on the teams’ head-to-head record.

Bangladesh innings was cut short to 40 overs and they required 212 runs for victory after rain delayed the start of their innings by nearly two hours. However, home side reached the target in 37.1 overs.

Bangladesh cricket team was struggling after losing three wickets for 40 but Tamim and Shakib added 76 runs for the fourth wicket partnership. After the departure of these two wickets, it was carried on by Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah. They remained not out on 36 and 32 respectively and added 77 runs in the sixth wicket stand.

Nuwan Mahmudullah and Sachithra Senanayake claimed two wickets apiece while Suranga Lakmal got one wicket.

Left-hand opener, Tamim Iqbal, played a very important role in this match. He scored 59 off 57 balls including nine boundaries and celebrated his 23rd birthday. It was his 3rd fifty of this tournament. Shakib Al Hasan also played a very crucial role behind the victory against Sri Lanka. He scored 56 runs from 46 balls with seven boundaries.

Bangladeshi skipper Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and invited Sri Lanka to bat first. The host dismissed Sri Lanka for 232 in 49.5 overs. Chamara Kapugedera played a passionate innings of 92-ball 62 while both Lahiru Thirimanne and Upul Tharanga scored 48 runs each.

Nazmul Hossain, who played his first match of this tournament, took first three wickets and destroyed the batting line up. Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak got two wickets each while other two wickets were shared by Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain.

0 comments: