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Colombo: Sri Lanka and Bangladesh know there’s no room for slip-ups when they take each other on in the final round-robin game of the Twenty20 International tri-series in Colombo on Friday.
Shakib Al Hasan will join the Bangladesh squad on Thursday, ahead of the final league match against Sri Lanka, the winner of which will progress to the final of the Nidahas Trophy. The BCB announced Shakib had recovered sufficiently from his little finger injury, and is expected to arrive in Colombo on Thursday afternoon.
Mushfiqur Rahim once again scored a fine half-century against India in the last game. Bangladesh were chasing a target of 177, seemingly a manageable task given that they had toppled 214 against Sri Lanka a few days earlier. This time, however, he lacked support.
Their bowlers didn’t fare too well earlier -- Rubel Hossain’s 2/27 apart, none of the others were among the wickets -- and Bangladesh will hope to put behind a bad day in the office. They will need to, given that when on song, Sri Lanka have been outstanding.
Admittedly, India did peg them back in their last outing, restricting them to 152/9 before chasing it down in 17.3 overs.
However, they have a few players in form who could trouble Bangladesh. the Kusals -- Mendis and Perera – foremost among them.-
In the previous clash between these sides last week, Mendis and Perera both scored half-centuries and put on an 85-run stand, helping Sri Lanka to 214/6.
Bangladesh survived that chase in a thriller, with Iqbal and Liton Das playing strong hands to go with Rahim’s 35-ball 72*.
This clash might, therefore, largely depend on whether, and to what degree, the in-form players in each side come good.
Teams from
Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dananjaya de Silva
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (Capt.) Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Hider, Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque, Nazmul Islam, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan, Liton Das
Pitch and conditions
Rain affected the clash between India and Sri Lanka on Monday, and remains in the forecast for Friday. The match might be interrupted at some stage, and it might even make things favourable for the pacemen.
Stats and trivia
Having regained his place in the T20 side this year, Kusal Mendis has scored four fifties in five matches, 246 runs at an average of 49.20.
Match facts
Friday 16 March 2018
Start time 19:00 local (13:30 GMT)
