Asia Cup: Sri Lanka favourites, but Bangladesh hope to ride their luck

Sport can be truly funny at times. Just two days back, the Bangladeshi players along with their legion of fans were cheering for Sri Lanka, because the latter had to beat Afghanistan to ensure The Tigers progressed to the Asia Cup Super-Four stage. Today though, they will be taking no prisoners when they clash with The Lions in the first Super Four match in Dubai. And truth be told, the two sides do have a bit of history.

Right from the ‘Naagin dance’ controversy and the shattered dressing room glass door in 2018 to the ‘timed-out’ incident in the 2023 ODI World Cup, these two sides haven’t really seen eye-to-eye on the field. In the group stage, Sri Lanka won their encounter in a canter with plenty to spare, before beating Afghanistan to carry The Tigers with them to the Super Four. That ’favour’, however, is unlikely to be reciprocated by Litton Das’ side as they look to avenge their earlier defeat.

While Sri Lanka will again be the favourites given their depth and momentum, Bangladesh, having returned from the brink of elimination, will want to prove that they belong among the four best Asian sides. While the teams will have more opportunities to make the final with matches against Pakistan and India to come, both know that a win in the first match will do their chances of making the title round a world of good.

Here are a few pointers going into the first Super Four match…

Need to make luck count

If Bangladesh were lucky to make the Super Four despite their poor net run rate, especially after how Afghanistan almost turned the match around against Sri Lanka in their last over of batting to post a formidable total, the fact that they did win two of their three matches should give them confidence heading into the Sri Lanka match. True, they haven’t really turned heads with their performances so far, but recent tweaks to the team suggest they are moving in the right direction. Tanzid Hasan has replaced Parvez Hossain at the top and he struck a breezy fifty against Afghanistan in a match they had to win to stand any chance, before spinners Nasum Ahmed and Nishad Hossain, along with veteran left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman turned the screws on the Afghanistan batting. Their skipper Das failed, but then he is this year's top run-getter in T20Is among Full Member sides with 513 runs.

Well-oiled machine

Charith Asalanka’s side are currently humming along like a well-oiled machine. On Thursday, Kusal Mendis carried them to a six-wicket win against Afghanistan with a sparkling, unbeaten 74. Mendis has also been prolific against Bangladesh. He is already Sri Lanka's second-highest run-getter with four centuries across formats against them. The only sour note for them was the loss of Dunith Wellalage, who had to fly back home following the death of his father. They will look at Maheesh Theekshana to fill in.

Expect a closer contest than the earlier game where Bangladesh played out two maiden over at the start. The stakes are higher, and the first set of points will be crucial.