Bangladesh’s campaign at the Asian Games cricket tournament suffered another severe setback during the bronze medal match against Sri Lanka, as the top order collapsed dramatically, leaving the team reeling at 18 runs for 4 wickets while chasing a target of 166.
Having missed out on the gold medal final following a semifinal defeat to Pakistan, Bangladesh entered the third-place playoff seeking a podium finish. However, the run chase began disastrously. Opener Saif Hassan was dismissed for a duck off the final ball of Nuwan Thushara's opening over after struggling through five scoreless deliveries. In the following over, Tanzid Hasan Tamim fell for zero off the second ball from Tharindu Ratnayake, caught by Sahan Arachchige. Captain Litton Das’s poor form continued as he was bowled first ball by Thushara for a golden duck, leaving Bangladesh with three top-order batters departing without scoring a single run between them and the board at 4/3. Towhid Hridoy offered a brief counter-attack with 11 runs off 6 balls before falling to Ratnayake, leaving Bangladesh facing a deep batting crisis. Earlier, Sri Lanka posted 165/9 in their 20 overs, anchored by Tharindu Ratnayake’s explosive 65 off 32 balls. Sheikh Mahedi (2 wickets) and Aliss Al Islam (1 wicket) were the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers, while Mustafizur Rahman (2/43) and Rishad Hossain (1/46) proved expensive in the death overs.
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Reported by Sports Desk • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
