\nSports Desk \/\/<\/p>\n
Bangladesh viewed the match against Sri Lanka as crucial to avoid facing India in the semi-finals. However, the batters failed to live up to those expectations on the field. Despite a valiant effort from the bowlers following the batting collapse, it was ultimately in vain.<\/p>\n
By losing to Sri Lanka by four wickets, Nigar Sultana Joty’s team has made their path to the Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals much harder.<\/p>\n
On Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh batted first after losing the toss and posted a total of 114 for 8. In reply, Sri Lanka reached the target with four balls to spare.<\/p>\n
This defeat extends Sri Lanka’s winning streak against Bangladesh; the Lankans have now won seven consecutive matches against them. Bangladesh has not beaten Sri Lanka since May 2023. In their 17 encounters, Sri Lanka has now secured 14 victories.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka has confirmed their spot in the semi-finals as group champions, having won all three of their matches to accumulate six points. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals now hinge on their next match; Joty’s team must defeat the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this coming Tuesday to secure a semi-final berth.<\/p>\n
Chasing a target of 115, Sri Lanka’s Imesha Dulani hit a boundary off the very first ball. However, Marufa Akter dismissed Chamari Athapaththu before the first over concluded. The pacer also bowled out Dulani with a superb delivery on the final ball of the following over.<\/p>\n
Sultana Khatun dismissed Sanjana Kavindi on the last ball of the powerplay. Bangladesh then intensified the pressure on Sri Lanka. Ritu Moni claimed a wicket in the ninth over, and in the next over, Fahima Khatun ran out Kavisha Dilhari with a direct throw.<\/p>\n
At one stage, Sri Lanka found themselves under immense pressure, having lost five wickets for just 44 runs. However, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva staged a comeback; their 38-run partnership for the sixth wicket brought Sri Lanka back into the contest. Marufa returned to the attack in the 17th over and bowled Nilakshika. At the start of the 18th over, Sri Lanka needed 29 runs. That was when Harshitha turned the tide of the match. She scored 12 runs\u2014including a four and a six\u2014off the first three balls of Ritu Moni’s over. The over yielded 16 runs in total, bringing the equation down to 13 runs needed off two overs.<\/p>\n
Harshitha all but sealed Sri Lanka’s victory by hitting a six off the final ball of the 19th over, bowled by Nahida Akter. The Lankans had no trouble scoring the required 2 runs in the final over.<\/p>\n
Harshitha was named Player of the Match for her match-winning, unbeaten innings of 48 off 37 balls, featuring four fours and two sixes. For Bangladesh, Marufa Akter claimed 3 wickets for 21 runs.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Bangladesh got off to a solid start after coming in to bat. Openers Juwairiya Ferdous Joyita and Dilara Akter Dola did not lose a wicket in the first four overs. However, Joyita lost her wicket in the fifth over while attempting a boundary; she scored 14 runs off 10 balls, including three fours.<\/p>\n
Dilara also got out after the powerplay ended, having scored 26 runs off 26 balls with four fours. Captain Nigar Sultana Joty did not last long either; coming in at number four, she was dismissed for just 4 runs off 9 balls.<\/p>\n
Sobhana Mostary and Swarna Akter steadied the innings temporarily by forging a 41-run partnership off 40 balls for the fourth wicket. Sobhana played the key role in this stand. Although she was dropped while on 20, she could not convert it into a big score, eventually making 34 runs off 41 balls with four boundaries.<\/p>\n
Swarna contributed 9 runs off 14 balls. In the final over, Fahima Khatun hit two boundaries\u2014a reverse sweep and a paddle sweep\u2014to lift Bangladesh’s total to a somewhat competitive level.<\/p>\n
For Sri Lanka, Chamudi Praboda took 3 wickets for 21 runs in her four overs. Sugandika Kumari claimed 2 wickets for 22 runs, including a maiden over, in her four-over spell.<\/p>\n
\nStay tuned for regular news updates and share your thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sports Desk \/\/ Bangladesh viewed the match against Sri Lanka as crucial to avoid facing India in the semi-finals. However, the batters failed to live up to those expectations on the field. Despite a valiant effort from the bowlers following the batting collapse, it was ultimately in vain. By losing to Sri Lanka by four wickets, Nigar Sultana Joty’s team has made their path to the Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals much harder. On Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh batted first after losing the toss and posted a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8444,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8442\/revisions\/8444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailymorningsun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}