Tigers lose opening warm-up fixture after Fernando’s stormy knock

Bangladesh lost their opening official warm-up fixture -- part of their preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup -- against Sri Lanka by four wickets thanks to Avishka Fernando's powerful unbeaten knock of 62.

Having won the toss, the Tigers elected to bat first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium Nursery 2 ground and following a relatively brisk start, they lost both openers Liton Das (14 off 12) and Mohammad Naim inside the Powerplay.

At 41 for 2 in six overs, Soumya provided the momentum with a 26-ball 34, laced with two sixes and a four. Mushfiqur Rahim's run-a-ball 13 and Afif Hossain's 11-ball 11 did not provide a meaningful platform and after Soumya departed in the final delivery of the 15th over, Bangladesh were in a spot of bother at 109 for five.

Nurul Hasan Sohan struck 15 off 14 and Shamim Hossain scored 5 off 8 before both departed to Dushmantha Chameera, who was tormentor in chief with three wickets for 27 runs in three overs.

Mahedi Hasan's unbeaten 16 off 12 and Taskin Ahmed's run-a-ball four not out saw Bangladesh post 147 for 7 in 20 overs.

Sri Lanka's chase started dismally, as Taskin and Mahedi gave early breakthroughs, removing Kusal Janith (4 off 8) and Pethum Nissanka (15 off 12) respectively. Soumya bowled Dinesh Chandimal (13 off 15) and the Tigers got a strong grip on the match when the Lankans lost three more wickets and slumped to 79 for six after 12 overs. Fernando, who came in at number 4, saw wickets tumble at the other side but held his own during a stormy 42-ball 62 not out while Chamika Karunaratne blazed away with an unbeaten 25-ball 29 as Sri Lanka got over the ropes with an over and four wickets to spare.   

Soumya finished as Bangladesh's best bowler with two wickets for 12 runs in three overs. There was no live telecast of the match and scorecards had to be collected from an Abu Dhabi based site, while brief updates from BCB's official sources were used to complete the report. However, there was no official confirmation of the scorecard available at the time of filing this report. Bangladesh will take on Ireland in their second and final warm-up match on October 14 before heading to the World Cup.