Asia Cup 2022, SL vs BAN: A tale of dropped catches and broken dreams

image-l7jidky0Sri Lanka makes it to the Super Four of Asia Cup 2022

The Sri Lankan Lions pulled off a last-over heist against the Bangla Tigers in the last match of group B of the Asia Cup.

Sri Lanka won the toss and invited Bangladesh to bat first. Bangladesh posted a total of 183 runs on the board in their 20 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. The Sri Lankans in spite of some hiccups in the chase managed to reach the target with 2 wickets in hand and 4 balls remaining in the match. 

The question automatically arises, where did Sri Lanka manage to go ahead in the competition?

Winning the middle overs

Let us look at the phase wise progression of the two teams.

image-l7ji83saPhase wise progression of Bangldesh vs Sri Lanka

The table gives us the idea that Bangladesh set up a nice platform for themselves in the power plays. In fact the start for them was better than the Sri Lankans. But the Lanka batters played the middle overs with a more positive attitude in spite of losing an extra wicket. 

Kusal Mendis, the Game Changer

image-l7jif770Kusal Mendis' knock changes the course of the match

The scorecard shows that Kushal Mendis scored 60 runs off 37 balls and set the stage for the middle-order and lower middle-order batters. But what it does not show is that he was given four lives during the match. 

Just imagine if the first chance that Mendis gave in the first over of the chase against Mustafizur was held onto by Mushfiqur Rahim then what could have been the result of the match. Mendis was batting at just 2 at that stage. 

Over Aggressive captaincy by Shakib Al Hasan

image-l7jiifrrThe failure of Shakib Al Hasab to adapt to the situation led to Bangladesh's defeat

Even after a better middle phase the Sri Lankan batters were nearly messing up the chase towards the end. At the end of the 18th over both the teams had scored 159 runs, so there was virtually no margin in the competition. 

But by then Shakib had used up all his better bowlers and for the last two overs he had to turn to Ebadot Hossain and Mahedi Hasan. The lack of experience of the two players was very evident in that pressure situation and it was very nicely exploited by Asitha Fernando in the end who took Sri Lanka across the line. 

Having been eliminated in the group stages of the tournament, Bangladesh will now have to go back and try to mend the apparent holes in the team. The team management should also think about where to rest the leadership responsibilities going ahead. 

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: Dasun Shanaka lauds Asitha Fernando nerves during death