Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, 8th Match, Super Four at Colombo, Asia Cup, Sep 09 2023 - Match Result

11.29pm So that's that then! Sri Lanka begin their Super Fours campaign with a confident win. They also extend not just their run of consecutive wins, but also the number of consecutive matches in which they have bowled their opponents out to ten. For context, no other team has done that more than ten games in a row! Bangladesh, meanwhile, have lost two in two and are all but out of the tournament, although a spot in the final is not a mathematical impossibility yet. Tomorrow we have India and Pakistan facing off in the third game of the Super Fours. Join us for all the action then. For today, from Chandan, Ranjith, Madushka and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo, this is Abhimanyu signing off.

Vichu : "So Harleen Deol's catch was not a catch? " Alright, let me clarify. The last touch before your first contact with the ball after it's hit by the batter has to be inside the boundary rope. You can hold the ball, throw it in the air, go outside the boundary rope and go back in and catch it or jump and catch it in the air again and land inside the rope.

Hiru Rash: "How come everyone not mentioning nothing about Dunith wellalage???10 overs 26-1 !!! That spell really held Ban without momentum!!!!" Fair enough, he did bowl a very economical spell and got a key wicket.

11.18pm Time for the presentation ceremony

The player of the match award goes to Sadeera Samarawickrama: "When I went to bat, it was not easy to bat on so my plan was just to give the momentum to the team, play my natural game and back myself. My plan was to play as late as possible. I was waiting for the ball to come to me and I did not go forward. I was in rhythm and continued my basic things. I was trying to bat deep and my plan was to get the 250 for the team because I knew the wicket was going to help the spinners. Told my partners also that they need to take risks at the end to get past 250 because then the bowlers can defend that total."

Sri Lanka captain, birthday boy and breaker of partnerships, Dasun Shanaka: "The Bangladesh bowlers bowled really well, specially Hasan Mahmud so I thought if I hit the same areas it would work well so I stuck to my basics. When there's no frontline bowlers so someone needs to chip in and today was my day. Maheesh wasn't able to bowl up front but at the end, Maheesh bowled in the end and in the end the result matters. Our players, specially Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama played really well, read the wicket very well."

Shripad : ""Hridoy showed a lot of heart there."I see what you have done there, @Abhimanyu!" To be honest, i didn't realise that myself!

Amey: "47.3 is SIX because the rule says, the last contact of the player must be with the inside of ground before he touches the ball for the first time. Since his legs touched the rope while jumping, he was considered to be out of ground."

Desh: "Someone explain please why that is a six? In close game this would have been the turning point." So after he took off for his jump, the back of his feet brushed the boundary rope. The law is that the last contact of a fielder before he grabs the ball should be inside the wicket. But his last contact was the boundary rope, and hence it was given six.

Gihan : "You missed to mention Shanaka as one of the stars of today's game." Yes, my bad! How could I forget? He had an average day with the bat, but he was the one to break Bangladesh's opening partnership after Mehidy and Naim raced to 55 off 11 overs. Those two wickets led to two more quick wickets. And then, with Hridoy building a 72-run stand with Mushfiqur, Shanaka came back to break that stand as well. So yes, absolutely got some crucial wickets whenever Bangladesh were threatening to take control of the chase. And that too on his birthday!

Fahad : "@Abhmaniu, the 3rd umpire wad spot on there, it was given a 6 because the fielder touched the boundary before jumping in the air to take the catch, remember the fielder's last contact with the ground should be inside the boundary!" Yes, absolutely. The last contact before you catch the ball has to be with the ground and his feet brushed the rope as he was jumping.

Stay with us for the presentation ceremony.

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan: "Well, I thought it was a good toss to win at the start. We didn't bowl particularly well. There was help for the bowler but we didn't get the wickets but credit goes to Sri Lanka. We came back really strong but then Sadeera played very well. We needed 80-100 run partnership to chase this. Our top four didn't get enough runs and we didn't bowl well at the start. [On Hridoy] He batted really well. He played LPL here so he brought that confidence. He played really well. If he could have batted a little longer, but then there are always a lot of ifs and buts. But Sri Lanka played better which is why they won. Seamers were a little on the expensive side but they also picked up all the wickets so you cannot complain."

Theekshana: "I just went to my basics because I knew I'd bowl the second over. I came back for a three-over spell. At the end I knew if I could get a couple of wickets... [On his injury] Yeah it was difficult to grip [for the carrom ball] but when you are playing for country, it doesn't matter. Someone as to put their hand up. I wanted to bowl wicket to wicket because it wasn't an easy wicket and the field setups were important."

11.05pm So there we have it! Sri Lanka continue their impressive showing in the Asia Cup, beating Bangladesh for the second time in the competition. Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis, Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana were the stars of the show. Towhid Hridoy showed a lot of heart as he tried to rebuild Bangladesh and take them to an unlikely victory, but he ran into Theekshana in the middle of a devastating final spell where he picked three wickets!

Goes around the wicket

Hasan Mahmud will be Bangladesh's last batter

TR: "Can Nasum do 'Naseem' for Bangladesh??!!"

49 needed in the last five overs.