Sri Lanka 165 for 9 (Ratnayake 65, Arachchige 33, Mahedi 2-19, Saif 2-28, Mustafizur 2-43) beat Bangladesh 102 (Nasum 26, Sahan 2-17, Thushara 2-18, Ratnayake 2-18, Vijayskanth 2-26) by 63 runs
Tharindu Ratnayake‘s stunning all-round performance led
Sri Lanka to a podium finish at the
Asian Games men’s competition, giving them the bronze medal after a comprehensive 63-run win over
Bangladesh. Ratnayake’s fast-paced 65 revived Sri Lanka after a top-order wobble, and then he took two wickets as Bangladesh crashed to 102 all out in 17.3 overs.
Known more for his ambidextrous bowling, Ratnayake hammered five sixes and seven fours in his 32-ball stay, which included a 93-run sixth-wicket stand off just 46 balls with his captain
Sahan Arachchige. It was a much-needed effort after Sri Lanka’s top four had fallen for single-digit scores.
Nightmare powerplay for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s top order started where they had finished against India in the semi-final.
Sineth Jayawardena missed a skidding delivery from
Mahedi Hasan in the third over, and Lasith Croospulle chipped one to mid-off later in the same over. Nuwanido Fernando became Aliss Al Islam’s first T20I wicket when he was caught behind for one, although replays showed he had missed the ball completely. Things got even worse when Sohan de Livera was run out trying to complete a second run later in the same over.
After just four overs, Sri Lanka were 21 for 4. Their top four had totalled just 27 runs over two matches, 15 of them coming from Nuwanidu against India.
Ratnayake revives Sri Lanka
Arachchige kept his side afloat from No. 5 and rebuilt with Ashen Bandara in a fifth-wicket stand worth 33 runs.
But it was Ratnayake who completely changed the complexion of the game. He started with a switch-hit six off Saif Hassan, before laying into the struggling
Mustafizur Rahman, who went for 25 runs in his first over, which included seven wides, two no-balls, two fours and a clattered six over midwicket.
Mustafizur had conceded 23 runs in his last over against Pakistan in the semi-final, but this was his most expensive over in T20Is.
Ratnayake now had the momentum, and he slammed Rishad Hossain for a reverse-hit six in the next over that went for 16 runs.
Aliss, who had bowled tightly thus far, went for 11 in the 16th over, which again had Ratnayake switching him through point.
Mustafizur continued to leak runs at the other end, before Ratnayake ripped into Rishad in the 18th over. The first six of the over brought up his half-century off 26 balls, before Ratnayake struck two fours and a six with conventional leg-side sweeps. The over ended with Parvez Hossain Emon dropping Ratnayake. Sri Lanka made 64 runs in the last five overs.
Three ducks from the top three
Sri Lanka carried over their batting momentum with ball in hand.
Nuwan Thushara gave Saif a proper working over for five deliveries before getting his outside edge off the last ball of the first over. Ratnayake then contributed with important strikes with the new ball too. Tanzid Hasan holed out in the deep to his offbreak, before Towhid Hridoy, Bangladesh’s best batter on display, fell to his left-arm spin in similar fashion. In between, Thushara’s yorker had Litton Das’ number.
Viyaskanth, Sahan finish Bangladesh off
After a brief semi-recovery, Bangladesh collapsed again to more Sri Lankan spin.
Vijayakanth Viyaskanth had Emon caught behind for 22, although the replay showed he had missed the ball by a considerable margin. Mahedi was given lbw next ball, before
Wanuja Sahan took a sharp return catch from Rishad Hossain and then got the ball to slide through Yasir Ali. Nasum Ahmed struck the ball around to finish on 26, before falling to captain Arachchige in the 18th over.
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