Asia Cup 2018, Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka: 4 reasons why Sri Lanka lost

The opening match of Asia Cup 2018 was an encounter between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and elected to bat first.

The batsmen proved their skipper's decision was right by scoring a total of 261. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun were the star performers with the bat as they scored 144 and 63 runs respectively. Lasith Malinga had a great ODI comeback. He picked up the crucial wickets of Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mithun and Mosaddek Hossain.

In reply, the bowlers were able to defend the total and bundled out the opposition for 124. Mortaza, Mustafizur and Mehidy were among the best performers for Bangladesh as they picked up two wickets each.

Let us have a look at the four reasons why Sri Lanka lost the clash.

---

#1 Great batting by Bangladesh

Mushfiqur Rahim came to bat at no.4 when Bangladesh was at 1 for 1. He scored 144 runs in the match. As a result, he won the Man of the Match award for this knock.

Mohammad Mithun made a great ODI comeback. He was among the best performers for Bangladesh as he scored 63 runs in the match and brought the team back into the game.

Also, a 133-run partnership between Mushi and Mohammad Mithun changed the momentum of the match. As a result, Bangladesh was able to put up a total of 261 runs.

---

#2 Bangladesh's bowling performance

Bangladesh were lucky to have the swing of Mustafizur, the pace of Mortaza and Hossain, the off-spin of Mosaddek and Mehidy, and the variations of Shakib. All of them impressed in the game.

The skipper had a good day with the ball as he picked up the wickets of the hard-hitting Tharanga and Dhananjaya de Silva. Also, the batsmen were struggling to pick up his pace. Mustafizur picked the crucial wickets of destructive Mendis and Lakmal. Rubel was able to dismiss the game-changer Mathews.

No 1. all-rounder Shakib had an economy of 3.32 in his bowling spell. Mehidy was able to dismiss the big-hitting Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera.

#3 SL missing the services of Akila and Chandimal

Akila Dananjaya is known to shift the momentum of the match by picking up crucial wickets and defending the target. He won't be playing some part of the tournament due to family reasons.

Dinesh Chandimal won't be playing the Asia Cup 2018 due to a finger injury. In the playing XI of Sri Lanka, some of the players didn't have much experience in ODIs like Dananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Dilruwan Perera and Amila Aponso.

---

#4 Batting Collapse

Sri Lanka was bundled out for a total of 124 due to an unbelievable batting collapse.

The openers didn't have a good day with the bat. Tharanga scored 27 runs with a strike rate of 160+, but he failed to convert it. Also, Kusal Mendis didn't manage to score a single run.

Dhananjaya de Silva had a forgettable performance in the match as he was dismissed for a duck. Mathews and Shanaka did not trouble the scorers much. Hard-hitting Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera were unable to perform in the match.