Tamim Iqbal celebrated his 23rd birthday with a half-century and Shakib Al Hasan also made fifty as Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by five wickets on Tuesday to get to the Asia Cup final for the first time.
The home side reached their revised target of 212 runs in 40 overs with 17 balls to spare after rain delayed the start of their innings by nearly two hours.
Bangladesh, who earlier dismissed Sri Lanka for 232, will play Pakistan in the final today, with five-time champions India out of the tournament despite finishing level on points with Bangladesh.
Photo: AFP
India paid the price for their shock defeat by Bangladesh, which sent them out on the teams’ head-to-head record.
“We have now defeated the reigning world champions and runners-up, which is a huge achievement for us,” Shakib said as thousands celebrated the win on the streets. “It gives us a lot of confidence, taught us a lot of things. This change will take us a long way.”
Nuwan Kulasekara claimed two wickets in his opening spell to help Sri Lanka reduce Bangladesh to 40 for three, but Tamim and Shakib added 76 runs for the fourth wicket.
Unheralded off-spinner Sachitra Senanayake, playing his first match of the tournament, briefly threatened to spoil Bangladesh’s party when he dismissed both batsmen in the space of four overs.
Tamim gave Senanayake a sharp return catch just after completing his third fifty of the tournament, but the bowler could not grasp it.
However, Senanayake got his reward for superb bowling when he had Tamim caught by Lahiru Thirimanne for 59 off 57 balls.
Four overs later, Shakib fell for 54 to Senanayake, who kept one low and trapped the left-hander LBW.
Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah continued the Bangladesh momentum, delighting the Sher-e-Bangla crowd, which included Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Nasir was unbeaten on 36 and Mahmudullah made 32 not out, the pair adding 77 runs for the sixth wicket.
Earlier fast bowler Nazmul Hossain, playing his first match in the competition, produced a brilliant opening spell that earned him the prized scalps of Mahela Jayawardene (five), Tillakaratne Dilshan (19) and Kumar Sangakkara (six).
Nazmul, who finished with three for 32, was complemented by his opening partner and former skipper Mashrafe Mortaza who gave away just 13 runs in his first spell of six overs.
Chamara Kapugedera (62), Thirimanne (48) and Upul Tharanga (48) boosted Sri Lanka, but two wickets each form left-arm spinners Shakib and Abdur Razzak pegged them back.
Jayawardene praised the Bangladesh performance.
“They are hungry for success, which is a good thing,” he said. “So wish them all the best for the final, which I know will be against Pakistan, who are playing some good cricket, too. It will be a good final.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite