New Delhi:
Asia Cup 2018 began in some fashion as the runners up of the 2016 edition – Bangladesh- won the tournament opener against Sri Lanka comfortably by 137 runs as Mushfiqur Rahim stole the show with his brilliant 144-run knock in 150 balls. Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga also made a magical comeback to the Lions’ side as he scalped four wickets in the Asia Cup 2018 opener in Dubai on Saturday, however, it was not enough to save his side from an embarrassing outing in their campaign opener.
Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim smashed his career-best of 144 in just 150 balls with four maximums and 11 boundaries. This was his sixth ODI hundred as Bangladesh’s score counted at 262 – all out in 49.3 overs after electing to bat first after winning the toss.
Bowling first, Sri Lanka had a bright start as Lasith Malinga showed why he is still a force to reckon with as he took 4/23 in his comeback match. Malinga’s last ODI was against India in September 2017.
Apart from the brilliant Mushfiqur Rahin (144), Mohammed Mithun was the pick of the batsmen for Bangladesh as he scored a handy 63 to assist the skipper.
Chasing 262, Sri Lanka suffered a humiliating batting collapse as they were bundled out for a mere 124 runs in 35.2 overs. This was also Sri Lanka’s lowest ODI score against Bangladesh.
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The highest partnership for the out-of-form Sri Lanka was just 27 runs for the eighth wicket.
Tamim Iqbal, who suffered a broken wrist at the start of the Bangladesh innings, will be remembered for a long time for his heroic act as he came out to bat with his injury at the far end of the innings and that enabled Mushfiqur to slog a few during the final overs. Once Mustafizur was out, Tamim removed his hand-cast and came out in order to allow his partner to play the final three overs.
However, Tamim has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a broken wrist and a replacement could be announced soon.
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Brief Scores:
Bangladesh: 261 all out in 49.3 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 144, Mohammad Mithun 63; Lasith Malinga 4/23, Dhananjaya de Silva 2/38).
Sri Lanka: 124 all out in 35.2 overs (Dilruwan Perera 29; Mashrafe Mortaza 2/25, Mustafizur Rahman 2/20, Mehidy Hasan 2/21).
