Sri Lanka is looking to enter the Super Four Stage while they will meet Bangladesh in the deciding Asia Cup cricket fixture scheduled to be held today at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which will commence from 7.30 pm (SL time).
This will be a do-or-die battle for Dasun Shanaka and his team as they must win this game to qualify for the Super Four Stage. Sri Lanka lost to Afghanistan in their opening game at this same venue last August 27 while Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan last Tuesday. The two sides will face off in today’s match. Afghanistan led by Mohammed Nabi has already recorded back-to-back victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh finishing top of the group to enter the Super Four.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said that they will make a strong comeback in today’s game. Bangladesh led by experienced Shakib Ul Hasan hopes to pose a big challenge against Sri Lanka to win the game.
Going back to the records Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have played 12 T20Is while Sri Lanka has won 8 and Bangladesh has won 4 matches. However, Sri Lanka lost twice in the Independence Cup Trophy in Colombo and was unable to enter the final. However, in the 2021 T20 World Cup held in UAE, Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 5 wickets at the Sharjah Stadium and this will be their first match after a year.
Playing at the Dubai and Sharjah Stadiums is different, but compared to Sharjah the Dubai wicket will favour the batsmen.
Sri Lanka has batting problems and they must have a proper batting line-up before the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held from next October 17 in Australia.
In the last T20 game against Afghanistan Sri Lanka opened the batting with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis as Mendis is the number one wicketkeeper at the moment and Bhanuka Rajapaksa acts as a standby. Danushka Gunathilaka, who usually operates as an opener, comes to bat at number 4. Pathum Nissanka is not among the runs and team management has an idea to get Dhananjaya de Silva as the extra middle-order batter.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also will look to give either experienced Jeffrey Vandarsay or the paceman Asitha Fernando but these replacements are not finalised and it will be done after the final training session which was scheduled to be held yesterday. night.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan and is looking to make a few changes. Their top batting order didn’t work as they expected at Sharjah, however, they aim to get a good start today. Skipper Shakib Ul Hasan is their key all-rounder while wicketkeeper Mushfiqar Raheem is always good against Sri Lanka. The spin department is looked after by former Sri Lanka leg spinner Rangana Herath and that is a big advantage for the team.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Ul Hasan said the knowledge of Herath is more important, especially against Sri Lanka. The fast bowling attack also has more experience than the Sri Lanka pace attack. Both captains said the day who performs well can win the T20 game while most important is do fewer mistakes during the 20 overs.
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