Bronze at stake as Bangladesh, SL look to bring cheer to Asian Games contingents

Cricknation Update: Bronze at stake as Bangladesh, SL look to bring cheer to Asian Games contingents Bangladesh start as favourites against a decidedly second-string Sri Lanka side The three who matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah all smiles after dismissing Pat Cummins The three who matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah all smiles after dismissing Pat Cummins, India vs Australia, World Cup, Chennai, October 8, 2023 The smile of a champion – Mohammed Siraj picked up five wickets in a ten-ball period, India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup final, Colombo, September 17, 2023 Alyssa Healy poses with the trophy after Australia retained the Ashes, England vs Australia, 3rd ODI, Women’s Ashes, Taunton, July 18, 2023 Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Chandigarh, Chandigarh hpens to be India’s first planned city and it does show, Uploaded on 27 November 2001.

At the end of a poor week in Nisshin, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have something real to play for: Asian Games bronze. Both teams have a point to prove. Bangladesh recovered well from a poor start in the semi-final against Pakistan thanks to Tauheed Hridayoy’s efforts with the bat, but their bowlers could not defend 111 runs in 13 overs and Mustafizur Rahman was clean bowled in one of his rare poor performances in T20Is.

But at least they ran Pakistan close. In the second semi-final, India bowled out Sri Lanka for 45 runs. Sri Lanka were a second-string team on the field, but they would not have bargained for basic mistakes like three run outs in their innings.

Bangladesh, who can call on most of their first-choice players, start the third-place match as clear favourites, but the testing conditions at Nisshin can even up contests that look one-sided on per. And both teams will have the motivation to bring joy to competitors who have endured mostly barren Asian Games campaigns. Bangladesh LWWLL (Last five full T20Is, most recent first) Sri Lanka LLLLL After a run-less tour of Australia where Liton Das was out for three consecutive ducks in the Test series, he was out for 2 against Pakistan.

Liton faced only three balls, of which he attempted two reverse-sweeps, the second of which cost him his wicket. This was a surprising innings on a pitch that had a lot of turn and strange bounce. Sometimes it is difficult to tell if a batsman is truly out of form when he has consistently scored low scores, but Liton, who has led Bangladesh impressively in this format over the past few years, will look to get out of the order early.

Sahan Arachchige couldn’t quite muster up a ctain’s performance against India, especially after his top three batters fell for ducks. He scored 9 runs before falling to a sweep shot against Axar Patel. He had earlier taken two wickets from his offbreak.

The 30-year-old allrounder now has the chance to put together a better show and inspire his team to the bronze. Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Sineth Jayawardene, 2 Lasith Kruspule, 3 Sohan de Livera (wk), 4 Nuwanidu Fernando, 5 Sahan Arachige (ct), 6 Ashen Bandara, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Vanujaa Sahan, 9 Tharindu Ratnayake, 10 Vijayakanth Vyasakant, 11 Binura Fernando. Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzeed Hasan, 2 Saif Hasan, 3 Liton Das (ctain), 4 Pervez Hossain Emon (wk), 5 Tauhid Hridoy (ctain), 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Alis Al Islam/Nasum Ahmed, 10 Shoraful Islam, 11 Mustafizur Rahman/Hassan Mahmood.

Saturday promises to be another sunny day in Nisshin as the men’s tournament looks to end on a dry note. Through this tournament, the pitch has worn large cracks off whose edges the spinners have extracted an unusual amount of bounce. Sri Lanka’s 45 all out in their semi-final against India was their lowest total in T20Is.

This is the second lowest team score in the Asian Games after Mongolia’s 41 against Nepal in 2023. Mustafizur Rahman bowled his second-most expensive over in T20Is when Pakistan took him for 23 in the first semi-final on Thursday. Asian Games (Men) 2026, BAN vs SL third-place play-off match preview – Bronze at stake as Bangladesh, SL look to bring excitement to Asian Games competitors Asian Games (Men) 2026 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Match Preview: Bangladesh will definitely start as favorites against the second-ranked Sri Lanka team, with Liton Das hoping to end his barren run of scores across all formats. • AFP/Mohammed Isam is a Bangladesh correspondent.