Tigers face Lankans in crucial tie
Following a seven-wicket drubbing against Pakistan in their first Asia Cup Super Four encounter in Lahore on Wednesday, Bangladesh will look to keep their Asia Cup destiny in their own hands when they take on Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today.
The Tigers are set to take on Sri Lanka for the second time in this edition so far as the two teams were placed in Group B, and the Tigers come into their second meeting with the disappointment of a five-wicket loss against the Lankans last month.
A loss against the Lankans would see the Tigers rely on the other sides to slip up in order to keep their hopes alive of making it to the final as they would need certain results to go their way and then bank on net run-rate to play a pivotal role.
In both of their losses so far in the tournament, Bangladesh have lost the plot with their dismal batting efforts that saw them get bundled out for 164 against Sri Lanka and then self-destruct when facing the Pakistan pacers as they got skittled for 192 on a batting-friendly surface in Lahore.
In their first match against the Lankans, the Tigers faced a difficult time tackling the mystery spin of Maheesh Theekshana, who throughout his spells looked menacing. The off-spinner opened with the new ball to trap debutant Tanzid Tamim lbw, and came back in the last 10 overs to clean up Najmul Hossain Shanto.
The Bangladesh batters have got their work cut out when dealing with the mystery spin factor, but surprisingly enough, Sri Lanka's fast bowlers have been more dominant than their spinners in terms of wickets taken. The Lankan pacers have scalped 41 wickets at an average of 22.58, while the spinners, who average 30.50, have taken 26 wickets in the last five years.
Pacer Matheesha Pathirana managed to trouble batters with his slingy action coupled with express pace; this saw him pick up four of the Bangladesh wickets in the first match and the 20-year-old will be the one to watch yet again today.
In the past five years, the Premadasa has seen an average first innings total of 267 in day-night contests and given the Tiger's recent batting woes, they will be eyeing a score in an around that total and perhaps beyond that challenge to the Sri Lankan batting lineup.
Opener Tanzid Tamim was dropped after his debut match against Sri Lanka as Mehedi Hasan Miraz was promoted up the order in the following two matches but with Miraz failing to create an impression in the Pakistan game, the team management may opt for a different opening pair.