T20 WC: Really important to win first game, says Dasun Shanaka
Oct 24, 2021
Sharjah [UAE], October 24 : Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka expressed his happiness after his side defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in the Super 12's Group 1 match here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa played knocks of 80 and 53 respectively to help Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in their clash on Sunday.
"Not the easiest target to chase. It's all about boundaries. Once the batsman gets set, any target is chaseable. Really important to win the first game. They batted really well. Those knocks are brilliant (Asalanka and Rajapaksa)," said Shanaka in a post-match presentation.
Chasing 172, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Kusal Perera (1) in the very first over as he was bowled by Nasum Ahmed. However, Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka counter-attacked and the duo took Sri Lanka's score to 54/1 after the end of the powerplay overs. Both batters put on 69 runs for the second over.
Shakib Al Hasan however, changed the game around for Bangladesh in the ninth over as he dismissed Nissanka (24) and Avishka Fernando (0), reducing Sri Lanka to 71/3 with the side still needing 101 runs to win from 68 balls.
Wanindu Hasaranga (6) failed to leave a mark with the bat and Sri Lanka was left struggling at 79/4 in the 10th over of the innings. Asalanka then found the support in the form of Bhanuka Rajapaksa and the duo did not let the asking run-rate creep up too high. Both of them kept on registering boundaries at regular intervals and Sri Lanka needed just 24 runs from the final four overs.
In the end, Sri Lanka registered a comfortable victory with seven balls to spare.
Sri Lanka will now face Australia in their next clash of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 on October 28, while Bangladesh will be going against England on October 27.
