Tigers eye maiden top-tier int’l title

Bangladesh face SL in final today

History beckons Bangladesh as they take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation one-day tournament today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The match that starts at 12pm, would be an opportunity for Bangladesh to win the maiden title in a tournament, involving at least three teams. Having missed the chance to win the trophy on three occasions in the past, including a tri-nation final in 2009, Asia Cup final in 2012 and Asia Cup T20 final in 2016, this is the best opportunity for Bangladesh to end the drought. They came to the final as the highest ranked team this time and played like a boss until the final league match in which they were dismissed for 82 to taste a humiliating 10-wicket defeat to this Lankan side.

But according to the captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, it was a one-off incident and actually came as a blessing as the players would be more determined than ever, sensing the history.

“The way we have been beaten in the last match, is not comfortable for us. But I don’t want the people to talk about that match. In cricket, you can taste a bad day. It’s not a big deal. I know we are not the team to be skittled out 70, 80, 90 runs in every match,” Mashrafe said.

 “If we can be champions, the impact will be good. There are few players like me, Tamim, Shakib and Mushfiqur played the last three finals. It’s an opportunity for us to taste a trophy like this. Hopefully we can make a difference.”

After tasting a defeat in the consecutive two matches, that almost showed them the exit door, Sri Lanka regrouped nicely to be in the final with two convincing win against those two teams in the return-match. And they want the momentum to go on, despite expecting a backlash from the hosts.

“We can’t think about that as a team. We need to play it like any other game. We need to focus on what we can control. That’s what we’re going to do as a team,” Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal said.

Tigers eye maiden top-tier intl title

Bangladesh face SL in final today

History beckons Bangladesh as they take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation one-day tournament today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The match that starts at 12pm, would be an opportunity for Bangladesh to win the maiden title in a tournament, involving at least three teams. Having missed the chance to win the trophy on three occasions in the past, including a tri-nation final in 2009, Asia Cup final in 2012 and Asia Cup T20 final in 2016, this is the best opportunity for Bangladesh to end the drought. They came to the final as the highest ranked team this time and played like a boss until the final league match in which they were dismissed for 82 to taste a humiliating 10-wicket defeat to this Lankan side. But according to the captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, it was a one-off incident and actually came as a blessing as the players would be more determined than ever, sensing the history. The way we have been beaten in the last match, is not comfortable for us. But I dont want the people to talk about that match. In cricket, you can taste a bad day. Its not a big deal. I know we are not the team to be skittled out 70, 80, 90 runs in every match, Mashrafe said. If we can be champions, the impact will be good. There are few players like me, Tamim, Shakib and Mushfiqur played the last three finals. Its an opportunity for us to taste a trophy like this. Hopefully we can make a difference. After tasting a defeat in the consecutive two matches, that almost showed them the exit door, Sri Lanka regrouped nicely to be in the final with two convincing win against those two teams in the return-match. And they want the momentum to go on, despite expecting a backlash from the hosts. We cant think about that as a team. We need to play it like any other game. We need to focus on what we can control. Thats what were going to do as a team, Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal said.