BAN vs SL Cricket Score, Asia Cup 2025 Highlights: Sri Lanka wins the game by six wickets, eyes title defence

Das displays incredible presence of mind to find the gap and hit Shanaka for two back-to-back boundaries. Shankar conceded 14 runs in the final power play over. Bangladesh 30/3 (6)

Despite Asalanka dropping an important catch, Sri Lanka was able to pick up another early wicket. Hridoy gets run out after scoring 8 of 9 balls. Hridoy is followed by Mahedi Hasan on the field, who whips Thushara for a four to mark the first boundary of the game. Bangladesh 16/3 (5)

Chammera bowls another impressive over as both Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy struggle to get their bat behind the ball. Chammera conceded only 3 runs in the over. Bangladesh 7/2 (4)

Emon and Tanzid were followed by Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy on the field. Bangladesh finally makes some runs in the third over of the game. Thushara wraps up his second over with four runs and a wicket. Bangladesh 4/2 (3)

Bangladesh loses both its openers early in the game. Chammera swings the ball outside off to nick a heavy edge from Emon’s bat. The ball was then caught by Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis. Bangladesh 0/2 (2)

Thushara starts with the new ball to deliver an impressive first over. Tanzid struggled to put his weight behind the ball as Thushara swung the new ball with ease. Thushara bowled a maiden first over and took out Bangladesh’s opener Tanzid on the last bowl of the over. Bangladesh 0/1 (1)

Charith Asalanka says his decision to bowl is based on the fact that it’s a new pitch. Sri Lanka will be working with a 7-4 combination, keeping three all-rounders in their playing XI to add some much-needed depth to their batting. Hasaranga marks his return to the squad.

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka(c), Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Litton Das(w/c), Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

Sri Lankan captain wins the toss and chooses to bowl first. “We are going to bowl, looks like a new pitch, so we want to bowl. Obviously yes. It’s a good memory, and we want to keep the momentum up. It’s a good challenge as a captain, and we got a good bunch of players,” Charith Asalanka said.

Both teams recorded their highest T20I scores against each other in the same match in Colombo in 2018. Bangladesh posted 215/5, and Sri Lanka replied with 214/6.

The teams have become fierce rivals in recent years, especially in the T20 format, with matches often going down to the wire. While Sri Lanka holds more victories in the overall head-to-head analysis, Bangladesh has emerged as the superior side recently, winning 3 out of their past 5 encounters.

Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said Wanindu Hasaranga should be available to play on Saturday, after Hasaranga had missed the Zimbabwe series with a hamstring injury. He also suggested that Sri Lanka could go in with three frontline seam options for the game.

Bangladesh captain Litton Das remains just 56 runs shy of becoming Bangladesh’s most prolific T20I batter with the highest number of runs in the format. The title is currently held by Shakib Al Hasan with 2,551 runs to his name.

The weather in Abu Dhabi will be hot and humid on Saturday, posing a challenge to the players. The pitch is typically dry, but may have some cracks emerging after previous matches. There might be some early swing for the pacers under the lights.

The Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup Group B match is set to begin at 8 PM IST today and will take place at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on channels affiliated with Sony Sports Network. Fans in India can catch the livestream of the game on the SonyLiv app and website.

The Sheikh Zayed Stadium has hosted two matches so far in the 2025 Asia Cup, with the average first-innings score hovering around 166. While the venue is generally considered to be balanced, offering something for both batsmen and bowlers. The surface remains dry today and might favour spinners, at crucial junctures of the game.

Bangladesh (Predicted XI): 1 Pervez Hossain Emon, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Litton Das (capt & wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Jaker Ali, 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman.

Sri Lanka (Predicted XI): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kamil Mishara, 4 Kusal Perera, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Kamindu Mendis, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Binura Fernando, 11 Nuwan Thushara

Bangladesh: WWWLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

Sri Lanka: WLWLL

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Asia Cup’s 5th day, where we see former Asia Cup T20I champion Sri Lanka start their campaign against Bangladesh at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The stakes for the game are set at an all-time high for both sides, as two points from this clash could prove decisive in shaping the qualification race. Though confident from their recent victory against Hong Kong at the same venue, Bangladesh will remain wary of its opponent, who has not had a great T20I season so far. Bangladesh won its last T20I series against Sri Lanka by 2-1 in July.