Asia Cup 2023, SL vs BAN Highlights: Sri Lanka Beat Bangladesh By 5 Wickets

"It was not easy at that time, two wickets down early, my plan was to be positive and at the same time build a partnership. It’s not easy to bat on this wicket, spinning and a bit slow and a bit in it for the fast bowlers. I have always backed my strength, normally cover drive and pull shot and I try to stay positive."

First time Sri Lanka has won 11 consecutive ODI matches. This is their longest streak in ODIs.

Asalanka drives that through towards the square leg boundary as the ball finds the fence. Sri Lanka kicks off the tournament with a win at home.  

Fifty! That was pushed to short cover who misfields, giving away the single that takes Asalanka to his half-century.

Wicket! Dhananjaya yorked himself there. Shakib gets another wicket of the match. Sri Lanka lose their fifth wicket.

Wicket! A brilliant innings comes to an end as Samarawickrama departs after taking his team almost closer to victory. Mahedi gets his first wicket of the match.

Fifty! This has been some innings from Samarawickrama as he drives his team towards victory. This partnership seems to be doing well in order to get them through in the match.  

Samarawickrama and Asalanka are doing well in this partnership as they continue to rebuild. Five runs came off that over from Mahedi. 

Wicket! You can't keep this man out of the game. Bangladesh are very much in this at the moment. Shakib does well to remove Kusal Mendis who was struggling to rotate the strike at times.

Sadeera keeps the things going at one end with Mendis struggling to rotate strike at the other. The latter, however, did well to pick a boundary in the over as the duo take six runs off Mustafizur's over.

Wicket! Bangladesh are on fire with the ball. Both the openers are back in the hut now. Nissanka tries to take it on and goes for a cut shot but only manages a nick behind.

Wicket! Taskin provides early success with the ball as he knocks off Karunaratne for 1. Sri Lanka one down already. 

"Last I played ODIs in Qualifiers. Took some experience and came here. The wicket was pretty dead in the first half. That's why I tried slower balls and other things. Very difficult to adjust to ODIs so soon after T20s. But I will manage it."

Bangladesh managed to reach just 164 runs before getting all out in 42.4 overs. Najmul Hossain Shanto was the lone fighter and ended up scoring 89 runs in 122 balls, getting no support from fellow batters. Pathirana picked four wickets with Theekshana getting two wickets as well.

Wicket! Another one for young Pathirana as he traps Mustafizur in front and finishes with four wickets for just 32 runs in 7.4 overs. Bangladesh are all-out for just 164 runs in 42.4 overs.

Wicket! Pathirana gets his third wicket of the match as he removes Taskin for a duck. Bangladesh are one wicket away from getting all-out. 

Wicket! The remarkable resistance from Najmul comes to an end as he gets knocked over by Theekshana. Bangladesh lose their eighth wicket and are moments away from getting all-out.

Wicket! It looked just a matter of time. Another wicket goes down as Wellalage traps Mahedi in front to give his team a seventh wicket. 

Wicket! That's disastrous for Bangladesh! Poor call from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and he pays the price for it! But the good thing is that he has sacrificed his wicket for the set batter. Bangladesh are six down now.

Shanto is losing partners from the other end. Wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim is the latest to depart as Bangladesh half their side. 

Shanto is currently playing a gem of a knock here in Pallekele. Can Mushfiqur Rahim support him well from the other end? It will be a daunting task to be honest. 

After a tough start for Bangladesh, batter Najmal Hasan Shanto steadied the proceedings a bit, however, Shanaka traps Hridoy in front of the stumps. 

Good over from Dhananjaya. Just two runs came off it as umpires called for the drinks. Good start for the bowling side before Najmul started playing his shots to recover the early damage.

Body blow to Bangladesh as the experienced Shakib-Al-Hasan is back in the hut in the 11th over. Matheesha Pathirana gets the prized scalp. BAN 37/3 (11)

Mohammed Naim has thrown his wicket as Nissanka takes a good catch at point. Bangladesh lose their 2nd wicket as Dhananjaya de Silva gets his first wicket. BAN 25/2 (8)

Kasun Rajitha is creating problems for Najmul Hasan Shanto with his line and length. He almost got him but captain Shanaka dropped a difficult chance.  

NO CLUE Whatsoever as Theekshana traps Hasan in front. Bangladesh fans have gone silent. Duck for the debutant Tanzid Hasan. BAN 4/1 (1.2)

The first over has been well negotitated by Mohammed Naim. Tanzid Hasan will face Maheesh Theekshana as Kusal Mendis comes up to stumps. 

Bangladesh' Tanzid Hasan and Mohammed Naim come out to bat as Sri Lanka's Kasun Rajitha seem to marking his guard. The conditions are overcast and Sri Lankan pace attack will look to make the most of the situation.

Both Team's Playing XI #BANvSL #AsiaCup23 pic.twitter.com/eQTmfeB1HS, — Cricket Ki Duniya (@TOSSUPDATE01) August 31, 2023

 We would have liked to bat first but it is a good toss to lose with rain around. The wicket should also assist us under lights. Even though we have four key players injured, the bases are well covered. Generally, I expect some turn here because there’s a bit of tear in these wickets. Very much excited. We have six batters, two all-rounders and three genuine bowlers. Matheesha Pathirana and Dunith Wellalage are playing.

We will bat first. Looks to me a dry wicket, hopefully we can put the runs on the board. We know Sri Lanka are a very good team, we have to be at our best in batting, bowling and fielding. We have got three seamers and three spinners in our squad.

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first.

As both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh gear up for their match, the importance of a win cannot be overstated. The net run rate might come into play due to predicted rain disruptions, adding to the significance of securing a victory. Both teams will be keen to notch a win, especially considering the challenging fixture against Afghanistan in Group B.

In their place, Anamul Haque Bijoy has been named as a replacement. Despite a victory over Ireland, Bangladesh's year has been marked by ODI series losses to England and Afghanistan.

A silver lining for Sri Lanka is that Bangladesh is facing similar challenges. Bangladesh will miss the contributions of Tamim Iqbal, Ebadot Hossain, and Litton Das due to injuries, with Das being ruled out of the entire Asia Cup due to viral fever.

Skipper Dasun Shanaka, apart from his century against India, has not been in his best form this year, and the team will hope he finds his rhythm against Bangladesh. In the bowling department, the responsibility falls on spinner Maheesh Theekshana and pacer Kasun Rajitha to compensate for the absence of their frontline bowlers.

To make a strong challenge against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka will heavily rely on in-form batsmen Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Charith Asalanka, who have been their top run-scorers in 2023.

They started the year with a disappointing 0-3 series loss to India, followed by another 0-2 loss to New Zealand. Although they managed to secure a victory against Afghanistan at home and performed well in the ICC Qualifiers, the team's struggle against top-tier opponents is a cause for concern. 

Key players like Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, and Dilshan Madhushanka are sidelined due to injuries, while Kusal Perera is still recovering from a COVID-19 infection. Despite these setbacks, Sri Lanka's performance in ODIs this year has been underwhelming.

Sri Lanka, winners of the 2022 Asia Cup in its T20 format, are facing hurdles in preparing for the current edition due to a mix of injuries and COVID-19 infections.

On the other hand, Bangladesh will also miss Litton Das and Ebadot Hossain as their injuries got reported recently.

Sri Lanka, who emerged champions of the Asia Cup in 2022 in its T20 edition, could not even announce their squad for this edition till Tuesday, courtesy niggles and COVID-19 infection to a couple of players. 

Hello and welcome to the live cricket coverage of match no. 2 of the Asia Cup 2023 between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh here at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele.