‘Kamaal hai aage lagta hai maza aayega’ – Fans react as Sri Lanka defeat Bangladesh by 5 wickets in Asia Cup 2023

Sri Lanka have started their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on a good note. The home side beat Bangladesh comfortably by 5 wickets and cleared the doubts of the fans. Coming to the match, Sri Lanka had a very inexperienced squad. A lot of regular players were ruled out of the tournament due to different injuries. The likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, and Avishka Fernando are not taking part in the tournament.

On a tricky wicket in Pallekele, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. On a slow wicket, Sri Lanka assessed the conditions well and used their spinners well. Right from the start of the innings, Sri Lanka attacked with spinners. As a result, the home side got the wickets of Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Naim, and Shakib Al Hasan very quickly. Only Najmul Hasan Shanto performed well with the bat for the visiting side.

Barring Shanto’s 89(122), no other batter scored more than 20 runs, which clearly showed the lack of application from the batters of Bangladesh. Sri Lanka bowled well as a unit. Dhananjaya De Silva, Dunith Wellalage, and Dasun Shanaka picked a wicket each. But it was the duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana that shined throughout the match. While Theekshana picked 2 wickets, Pathirana claimed 4 wickets, including that of Shakib Al Hasan.

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka take Sri Lanka home

Bangladesh managed to score only 164 runs in their first innings. The target was not threatening at all despite it being a slow wicket. It was pretty visible, as Sri Lanka did not find it difficult to chase the target, especially with the progression of the innings. Although Bangladesh got early wickets, it was just not enough. From 43/3 at one stage, Sri Lanka chased the target pretty comfortably, thanks to fifties from Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka.

Samarawickrama scored 54 runs in 77 balls and Asalanka scored an unbeaten 62*(92). As a result, Sri Lanka chased the target comfortably by 5 wickets. Shakib Al Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, and Taskin Ahmed bowled well for Bangladesh. But it just not enough. Matheesha Pathirana won the Player of the Match award.

Here’s how the fans reacted to Sri Lanka’s win:

Srilanka team pic.twitter.com/AN5JpfPRdO

— Pawan Shukla (@Shukla8175) August 31, 2023

https://twitter.com/OBCANKITKATAULI/status/1697286679923720330?s=20

Covid in big 2023😭

— harsh♥️🇮🇳 (@HARSH99OP) August 31, 2023

https://twitter.com/legendmsd_07/status/1697283758205112501?s=20

Nagin Dance not Happened 😞🤣🤣

— Manoj Kumar 🕉️🇮🇳 (@manoj_begu) August 31, 2023

https://twitter.com/THORthayaar/status/1697283989973639206?s=20

https://twitter.com/izishan7/status/1697284638312710455?s=20

https://twitter.com/Hey_Sajan/status/1697283991790076081?s=20

Today I missing this kind of rivalry 😁#AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/Bzilceidgz

— Kapil Pratap Singh (@kapil9994) August 31, 2023

Team to watchout❤

— ASHISH (@Ashish87652264) August 31, 2023