Sri Lanka set the tone early and cruise home in Abu Dhabi
Sri Lanka began their title defense with a statement. In the opening Group B game at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, the defending champions swatted aside Bangladesh by six wickets, hunting down 140 with 32 balls to spare. It wasn’t just the win. It was how early they seized control and how calmly they finished the job—no fuss, no panic, just clean cricket.
Charith Asalanka won the toss and chose to bowl, a call that fit the venue and the format. Night games in Abu Dhabi can bring a hint of dew, and chasing teams often prefer knowing the number. But what followed was about more than conditions. Sri Lanka’s new-ball pair hit their marks from ball one and never let Bangladesh breathe.
Nuwan Thushara kicked off with a wicket-maiden. Dushmantha Chameera answered with another. After two overs, Bangladesh were 0/2 and looking shell-shocked. That opening stands out on any scorecard, and for a reason: Sri Lanka became only the second T20I side to start an innings with two consecutive maiden overs. It wasn’t magic. It was execution—hard lengths, fuller balls that swung enough, and smart fields that cut off singles.
The top order couldn’t dodge the pressure. Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, and Tawhid Hridoy were gone inside the powerplay, and Bangladesh slid to 53/5. Wanindu Hasaranga tightened the screws in the middle, mixing pace, wrong’uns, and smart lines into a spell that kept the batters guessing. When the ball didn’t bite, the fielders did—clean stops, sharp throws, and no freebies.
Then came a brave rebuild. Shamim Hossain and Jaker Ali settled, trusted the gaps, and rebuilt brick by brick. Their 86-run stand for the sixth wicket wasn’t just vital; it set a tournament record for that position. Shamim finished unbeaten on 42, Jaker on 41*, and together they dragged Bangladesh from a collapse to a total. At 139/5, it wasn’t imposing, but it was something to defend—if they bowled with the same clarity Sri Lanka had shown.
The chase told a different story. Kusal Mendis fell early for 13, but Pathum Nissanka kept the engine purring. He swept, drove, cut, and picked the right balls to attack, reaching a 50 off 34 that looked effortless because he rarely forced the play. By the time the powerplay ended at 55/1, Sri Lanka were running at the rate they needed and held all the cards.
Kamil Mishara, dropped early, grew into the innings. He started a touch edgy but, once settled, he found the right gears—nudges into the leg side, lofts down the ground, and cool shot selection. That drop became costly fast. Mishara finished 46* and guided the chase with a calm head as wickets fell at the other end late on. The scoreboard kept moving, and Bangladesh’s fielding missteps kept adding up.
In the end, 140/4 in 14.4 overs felt routine. Sri Lanka didn’t need to slog; they just hit gaps, found boundaries when they needed them, and punished anything short or wide. The win lifts them to the top of Group B and gives their net run rate a healthy bump—gold in a short group phase.
Key beats, tactical takeaways, and what it means for Group B
Games can turn on little things—the first two overs, a dropped catch, a change of pace—and this one did. Bangladesh never truly recovered from the shock of those two maiden overs, and the catch they spilled in the chase cost them the one batter who couldn’t be allowed to settle. Sri Lanka, by contrast, kept doing the basics well. It sounds dull. It wins matches.
- Start that rattled the Tigers: Bangladesh 0/2 after two overs—two wicket-maidens to open a T20I innings, a rare feat that set the tone.
- Mid-innings clamp: Hasaranga and the seamers worked in tandem, with fielders saving runs to hold Bangladesh at 53/5.
- Rescue act: Shamim Hossain (42*) and Jaker Ali (41*) added 86, a tournament record for the sixth wicket, and kept Bangladesh in the game.
- Powerplay control: Sri Lanka reached 55/1 in six overs, and the rate never spiked out of reach.
- Match-sealers: Pathum Nissanka hit a crisp 50 off 34; Kamil Mishara finished unbeaten on 46 to complete the chase in 14.4 overs.
Why did Sri Lanka’s new ball work? Line and length, sure, but also field settings that backed the plan. With early movement on offer, they kept slips in, attacked the stumps, and denied easy rotation. Bangladesh’s top-order batters got stuck between defending and counterpunching. That hesitation brought edges, mistimed drives, and trapped feet.
Hasaranga’s spell mattered even without a bag of wickets. He varied pace—quicker through the air when batters shaped to sweep, slower and teasing when they tried to step out. His lengths made slog-sweeps tough, and the outfielding backed him up. Bangladesh’s middle overs never really took off; they were rescued, not relaunched.
With the bat, Sri Lanka’s template looked simple because it was. Nissanka took the lead while Mishara found rhythm. When the rate slipped below eight an over, they played risk-free cricket; when bowlers missed, they cashed in. They didn’t need a final flurry because the platform did the job. That’s the advantage of an efficient powerplay—there’s no scramble at the back end.
Bangladesh’s bowling lacked that same bite with the new ball. The lengths drifted, the lines wavered, and the fielding lapses hurt. You could sense the pressure easing every time a fumble turned a single into two or a chance went down. In T20, those are body blows. Add in a pitch that didn’t offer much lateral movement under lights, and the job got harder by the over.
Still, Bangladesh leave with a clear positive: their lower middle order showed fight. The Shamim–Jaker stand proved there’s depth and composure in a crisis. Use that as a platform, and this team can rebound. But to stay alive in Group B, the top order has to find a method against seam, and the catching has to tighten up fast.
From a table perspective, this result carries weight. Two points for Sri Lanka, a healthy net run rate boost, and a clean start for a side hunting back-to-back titles. Bangladesh take the hit on NRR and drop to third in the early standings, which means their next outing already carries a knockout feel. In a short group stage, one heavy defeat can linger.
What adjustments make sense now? For Bangladesh, consider one of two routes. Either shore up the top order with a stabilizer who can absorb the first three overs and still go at a run-a-ball, or double down on early intent with clearer roles—one aggressor, one anchor. With the ball, they need a bouncer plan and a fuller, straighter option to right-handers at the top. And the catching? That’s repetition and standards—no shortcuts.
For Sri Lanka, this wasn’t perfection, but it was close enough for an opener. The new-ball pair looked sharp; the middle overs had control; and the batting pace was exactly where it needed to be. The one caution is not letting fielding intensity slip in games that feel done by the tenth over. Keep that edge, and this side stays hard to beat.
Conditions played their part too. Abu Dhabi’s square boundaries are long, the outfield quick, and the surface tends to reward accuracy more than raw pace. That’s why Sri Lanka’s discipline mattered so much. Hit a good length with subtle movement, and you’re in the contest every ball. Bangladesh’s bowlers found that out too late; by then, the chase was in cruise mode.
Let’s talk pressure. Starting with two maidens doesn’t just cost you 12 balls; it messes with your plans. Batters rush to catch up, risk shots they wouldn’t normally play, and hand momentum to the bowlers. Sri Lanka rode that wave and never gave it back. Bangladesh’s best passage—a steady ten overs in the middle—needed support at both ends of the innings. They didn’t get it.
The numbers tell the story without spin: Bangladesh 139/5; Sri Lanka 140/4 in 14.4; 32 balls left; 86 for the sixth wicket to rescue the innings; 55/1 after six for Sri Lanka to set the chase; two wicket-maidens to start the game and rattle the top order. You won’t win many T20s when that combination stacks against you.
In group tournaments, momentum matters as much as points. Sri Lanka now carry both. Their seamers have rhythm, Hasaranga has started with a firm grip on the middle overs, and the top order looks settled. Bangladesh don’t lack skill, but they do need a reset—clear plans against the new ball, tighter lines in the first six, and a harder edge in the field. The gap between the sides looked bigger than it is because one hit their plan from ball one and the other chased the game for most of the night.
What’s next? The fixture list will throw both teams into quick turnarounds, and the second game in a group often decides who plays under pressure in the third. Sri Lanka can back their methods and fine-tune the death bowling for tighter finishes later in the tournament. Bangladesh need to turn training ground fixes into match-day habits fast. With net run rate now in the mix, they can’t afford another heavy defeat.
As opening salvos go, this was crisp and clinical from the champions. They kept things simple, played to conditions, and took the moments that mattered. If that’s the blueprint for the rest of the competition, the pack is chasing them again at the Asia Cup 2025.