Sri Lanka desecrate Bangladesh in Dhaka
After winning the toss and batting first, Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haq Bijoy came down to bat. The Sri Lankan bowlers seemed charged up as they kept it tight against the Tigers. Anamul Haque Bijoy fell prey to Lakmal as he tried to drive a bowl to the covers, but inside edged it to the stumps instead.
Shakib came next and and hit two boundaries before getting run-out. Tamim fell next after a brilliant short-ball from Suranga Lakmal. Mahmudullah was out next as he tried to hit the ball to the boundary, but instead sent the ball straight down the throat of the fielder.
Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahium started to stabilize the ship of Bangladesh, but Sabbir played a reckless shot towards long on and threw his wicket away. The rest of the batsmen soon followed as Bangladesh got packed for 82 runs after playing just 24 overs.
None of the batsmen could put up a decent total as the Sri Lankan bowlers ripped through them. Mushfiqur Rahim top scored with 28 runs andSabbir Rahman was the only one who could reach double figures with his score of 10 runs.
The Sri Lankan bowlers were at their rampant best as each of the four bowlers got at least 2 wickets each. Suranga Lakmal got 3 scalps while Dushmantha Chameera, Thisara Perera and Lakshan Sandakan got 2 wickets each.
In response, the Sri Lankan openers came down and hurriedly finished the game within 11.5 overs. Danushka Gunathilaka scored 35* and Upul Tharanga made 39* to give Sri Lanka a comfortable 10 wicket win and a place in the final.
In the post-match conference, Mashrafe said: "I hope so (if this is a wake-up call). Good thing that our middle order has been exposed. Hopefully they'll find out their mistakes. Mushfiq had a good innings. Hopefully they will deliver in the final. They're working hard, can't complain. It's good it's happened before the final. All batters pointed it was a good wicket to bat on. Maybe the application wasn't there. Maybe we could have scored at least 180-200."
Dinesh Chandimal: "This is what we're capable of. Boys executed well. Credit to all the players. We had gameplans before the start. We can control when we're fielding. Specially Suranga bowled really well at the start. Upul and Danushka finished it really well. Credit to Bangladesh also, they've played some outstanding cricket. We wanted to attack them. Gunathilaka made a fantastic run-out and took a brilliant catch. Credit to him also."
Suranga Lakmal was given the man of the match award.
Bangladesh - 82-all out after 24 overs.
Sri Lanka - 83/0 after 11/5 overs.
Sri Lanka win by 10 wickets
