After being invited to bat first, Sri Lanka have managed to post 257/9 in their Super Fours Asia Cup 2023 fixture at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday (September 9). Sadeera Samarawickrama was the star with the bat as far as the Sri Lankan innings is concerned as he ended up as the top-scorer with 93 off 72 deliveries. Wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis was the other half-centurion for Sri Lanka but was dismissed exactly at 50 off 73 balls was dismissed at a critical stage in the innings.
For Bangladesh, Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam were the pick of the bowlers. While Mahmud finished with wickets of 3 for 57, Shoriful too was impressive and returned with match figures of 2 for 48. The Bangladesh bowlers never allowed Sri Lankan batters to get a move on barring the 60-run partnership between Dasun Shanaka and Samarawickrama and the rapid finishing touch give by the stand between Samarawickrama and Samarawickrama worth 19 off 11.
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After losing Dimuth Karunaratne early, Mendis and Pathum Nissanka also shared a 74-run partnership but it was a cautios stand and took 107 balls and was broken just when the batters had broken the shackles with a few boundaries. In the end it was Samarawickrama who not only absorbed the pressure early on but later took it upon himself to ensure that Sri Lanka manage a strong finish and a fighting total against Bangladesh whose bowling has been their strong suit in recent times.
Bangladesh batting hasn't been in top form but will come out with the belief that they can chase this down. They would be in an advantage in case rain comes down and DLS sytem comes into the picture. Bangladesh have already lost their first match in the Super Fours to Pakistan and thus this match becomes all the more important for them.