Shakib Al Hasan celebrates a wicket against SL in Asia Cup 2023 (AP)
Asia Cup 2023 co-hosts Sri Lanka will launch their Super Four campaign with a match against familiar foes Bangladesh in Colombo on September 9. The two sides also went up against each other earlier in the competition, where Sri Lanka emerged victorious amidst a tense run-chase.
Several on-field battles can determine the eventual outcome of their much-awaited Super Four duel. As both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh brace themselves for another potential thriller, here at OneCricket we analyse and find out five such fascinating player battles on the cards.
Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: Player Battles to Watch Out
Pathum Nissanka vs Taskin Ahmed
Taskin Ahmed celebrates a wicket in Asia Cup 2023 (AP)
Bangladesh pace veteran Taskin Ahmed will be aiming to snap Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka cheaply within the powerplay to give his side an early advantage in the game. The speedster managed to trouble Nissanka back in 2021 during their first-ever ODI meeting.
| Balls | Runs | Dismissals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka vs Taskin Ahmed | 23 | 15 | 1 |
Towhid Hridoy vs Matheesha Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana celebrates a wicket in Asia Cup 2023 (AP)
Young Matheesha Pathirana managed to claim four Bangladeshi wickets last week in their opening Asia Cup 2023 fixture. Towhid Hridoy, batting in the middle-order, somehow defied the speedster with a fighting 59-run stand with Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Hridoy needs to click for Bangladesh with a big score, if they are to negate Sri Lanka's bowling threat in the middle overs.
| Balls | Runs | Dismissals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Towhid Hridoy vs Matheesha Pathirana | 5 | 4 | 0 |
Dasun Shanaka vs Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan and Dasun Shanaka (Twitter)
Dasun Shanaka, an all-rounder and a Sri Lankan captain, will likely come across his Bangladeshi counterpart Shakib Al Hasan’s spin at some point in the game. While Shanaka has managed to preserve his wicket so far against Shakib in all their ODI meetings since 2018, the Sri Lankan has not managed to score at his usual strike-rate. Shanaka, who strikes at 93.14, has scored his runs at only 45.7 strike-rate against the premier spinner.
Their face-off, most likely in the middle-overs, might well turn out to be a decisive factor for their sides in the contest.
| Balls | Runs | Dismissals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dasun Shanaka vs Shakib Al Hasan | 35 | 16 | 0 |
Mushfiqur Rahim vs Dhananjaya de Silva
Mushfiqur Rahim in Asia Cup 2023 (AP)
Bangladesh veteran Mushfiqur Rahim has taken Sri Lankan off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva to cleaners each time they went up against each other. Moreover, Rahim has not been dismissed a single time by de Silva, a stat which the Sri Lankan all-rounder will want to change.
| Balls | Runs | Dismissals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mushfiqur Rahim vs Dhananjaya de Silva | 97 | 88 | 0 |
Charith Asalanka vs Mahedi Hasan
Charith Asalanka in action against BAN (Twitter)
Charith Asalanka held off Bangladeshi spin threat Mahedi Hasan in their previous outing this Asia Cup 2023 to script a tense five-wicket win for Sri Lanka. The cricketer batted at number five and scored a brisk 62*, and minted nearly half of those runs against the young in-form off-spinner.
| Balls | Runs | Dismissals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charith Asalanka vs Mahedi Hasan | 36 | 26 | 0 |
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