Pride at stake for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

With chances of qualifying for the knockouts over, Asian rivals Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will take the field for one last time in this edition of the T20 World Cup when both the teams square off in a dead rubber on Monday (March 2) at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

Both the teams have lost all their three respective matches. India already qualified for the knockouts and it all boils down to the Australia versus New Zealand on March 2 as to who takes the second semifinal spot from Group A. Before the start of the tournament, Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun told they would like to take inspiration from their U-19 men’s side who became the World Cup champions in South Africa for the first time in history earlier in February. But performance wise, they were far from what they wanted to be.

If Bangladesh showed little fight before going down by 18 runs against India in their tournament opener, they looked completely out of sorts against hosts Australia losing by 86 runs. Bangladesh could have sprung a surprise against New Zealand on Saturday (February 29) bundling the opposition for just 91 but much to everyone’s surprise folded out for just 74 while chasing – a display which is a result of non-exposure to big teams. It is also to be noted that Bangladesh played Australia and New Zealand for the first time in their cricketing history.

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On the other hand, Sri Lanka have themselves to blame. Not only the Sri Lankan batting unit was completely completely dependent on skipper Chamari Atapattu, they were sloppy in their fielding department too – dropping as many as around 10 catches. In all three matches Sri Lanka have played, the 30-year-old Atapattu, has been the top-scorer for the team while in bowling, baring Udeshika Prabodhani nobody really looked impressive.  

With pride is at stake, both the teams would like to finish on a high, especially for Shashikala Siriwardene who will be playing in Sri Lankan jersey for one last time.

Squads:  

Sri Lanka: Shashikala Siriwardene, Chamari Atapattu (c), Udeshika Prabodhani, Dilani Manodara, Nilakshi de Silva, Hasini Perera, Ama Kanchana, Harshitha Madavi, Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya, Kavisha Dilhari, Umesha Thimashini, Sathya Sandeepani.

Bangladesh: Ayasha Rahman, Fargana Hoque, Khadija Tul Kubra, Nahida Akter, Panna Ghosh, Rumana Ahmed, Sanjida Islam, Fahima Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Nigar Sultana, Ritu Moni, Salma Khatun (c), Shamima Sultana, Murshida Khatun, Sobhana Mostary.