Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in Asia Cup opener
Dubai, Sep 16 : Bangladesh dominated with both bat and ball to outclass Sri Lanka by 137 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Saturday.
Electing to bat first, Bangladesh rode Mushfiqur Rahim's career-best score of 144 runs to post what eventually turned out be a pretty competitive total of 261 in 49.3 overs.
Chasing what should have been an achievable target, the Sri Lankan chase never really gained any momentum and they were dismissed for 124 runs in 35.2 overs.
The islanders were off to disastrous start when Kusal Mendis misread the pace of a Mustafizur delivery in the second over, played across the line, and was hit in the pads plump in front.
Mortaza got rid of Upul Tharanga -- the other Sri Lankan opener -- in the very next over with a peach of a delivery which pitched on the off-stump line and moved in to disturb the stumps.
Mortaza then got rid of Dhananjaya de Silva in his next over to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 32/3 in the fifth over.
The Lankans continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. When Mehdi Hasan got rid of Thisara Perera to reduce the former World Cup champions to 69/7 in the 19th over, the match was as good as over.
Earlier, veteran pacer Lasith Malinga enjoyed a wonderful return to international action with figures of 4/23.
The 35-year-old, who was missing in action for around a year due to fitness issues, started with a bang when he sent back Liton Das and the experienced Shakib Al Hasan off consecutive balls in the opening over.
But Mushfiqur and Mithun put on a partnership of 133 runs in 24.3 overs to give a solid foundation to the Bangladesh innings. Mithun scored 63 runs off 68 balls before becoming Malinga's third victim in the 26th over.
Mushfiqur continued to battle on before Thisara Perera dismissed him in the 50th over to bring the Bangladesh innings to an end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh: 261 in 49.3 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 144, Mohammad Mithun 63; Lasith Malinga 4/23) vs Sri Lanka: 124 in 35.2 over (Mustafizur Rahman 2/20, Mehdi Hasan 2/21, Mashrafe Mortaza 2/25).
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
