Sri Lanka captain Dunith Wellalage (left) celebrates with teammates.
Chinthana Wasala
The Peninsula
Doha: Sri Lanka A booked their place in the semi-finals of the Asia Cup Rising Stars T20 Tournament with a thrilling six-run win over Bangladesh A at the West End Park Stadium yesterday.
Chasing 160, Bangladesh received a decent start from Habibur Rahman Sohan. Sohan was out lbw off Traveen Mathew for 27 and Sri Lanka captain Dunith Wellalage then impressed by taking three wickets, including Jishan Alam (17), Akbar Ali (25) and Mahidul Islam Ankon (8). Wellalage finished with figures of 3 for 19, leading the bowlers who did well to keep Bangladesh A batsmen under pressure. No.3 batsman Zawad Abrar contributed 26 runs, but the required run rate kept climbing.
Bangladesh A went into the final over needing 18. Milan Rathnayake’s 20th over saw plenty of drama. It began with a dropped catch of Yasir Ali, S M Meherob hit a six off the next delivery and Rathnayake gave away two wides in the next. Two successive leg-byes left Bangladesh needing seven off the last two balls, but Rathnayake held firm with a dot ball before trapping Yasir Ali lbw in the last ball of the innings for 20.
Earlier, Sahan Arachchige top-scored for Sri Lanka A with a well-crafted 69 off 49. He hit five boundaries and three sixes, also compiling a 52-run stand with Wellalage (23). Sri Lanka scored 159, losing 7 wickets as Ripon Mondol and Abu Haider took two wickets each.
The result took Sri Lanka A to four points as they edged defending champions Afghanistan A on net run rate. Bangladesh A topped Group A and will meet India A in tomorrow’s 12.30pm semi-final, while Sri Lanka A face unbeaten Pakistan Shaheens at 5.30pm.
Earlier, Afghanistan A defended 140 for 6 to beat Hong Kong by 24 runs, with leg-spinner Qais Ahmad delivering a match-winning spell in the chase.
Sent in to bat, Afghanistan A started quickly through Imran, who hit 20 off 12, but early strikes from Mohammad Waheed and Hassan Khan Mohammad hit the breaks to their momentum. Waheed sent Imran back to the pavilion, before seamer Mohammad removed Zubaid Akbari and Sediqullah Atal inside the powerplay. Rahmanullah (24 off 21) and wicketkeeper Mohammad Ishaq (38 off 29) built a vital stand of 51 runs as Afghanistan scored a modest 140 for 6 in their 20 overs.
Hong Kong were doing well until the 11th over, when Ahmad took over.
Anshuman Rath (27) and Babar Hayat (30) had added stability to their innings, involving in a 57-run stand for the third wicket, but Ahmad stuck three times in his first over.
Hayat was caught out by Ishaq in the first ball of the over, then Rath was caught by Darwish in the fifth, before Hong Kong captain Yasim Murtaza was trapped lbw in the very next delivery. Despite a late 24 off 22 from Shiv Mathur, Hong Kong finished on 116 for 9. Qais took 3 for 18, while Faridoon Dawoodzai took 2 for 21.
