Sri Lanka secure final spot

Suranga Lakmal decked the Bangladesh middle order, Thisara Perera swung blows in the middle, Dushmantha Chameera and Lakshan Sandakan wiped out the tail, and a hail of sixes carried Sri Lanka’s openers to a paltry target of 83.

All up, Sri Lanka required only 35.5 overs to complete the 10-wicket win - 24 overs to dismiss the opposition, and 11.5 to run down their score. The hosts, meanwhile, were guilty of complacency perhaps, their place in the final long secured, and with little to gain from this game. It is these two teams who will now contest Saturday's final.

Having conceded 320 to the same opposition only six days ago, Thursday was a Sri Lanka bowling fantasy. The short ball proved profitable for the quicks again, as it had done against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Lakmal, Chameera and Thisara were sharp and intense, and Sandakan extracted rapid turn from a wearing Mirpur square. So effective were these four bowlers that Sri Lanka's other frontline spinner - Akila Dananjaya - was not required to bowl a single delivery. Lakmal took 3 for 21, and the others two wickets apiece.

It was in the third over that the mayhem began, when Anamul Haque threw his bat at a Lakmal delivery and redirected it to the stumps via his inside edge. This united Bangladesh's best batsmen of the series - Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal - but they would soon be parted by a piece of electric fielding by Danushka Gunathilaka. Tamim pushed a ball square on the off side and set off for the run, but swooping to his left from point, Gunathilaka pulled off a velvet-smooth pick-up and threw down the stumps, leaving Shakib several metres short of his ground. 

Mushfiqur Rahim was the only Bangladesh batsman to make an attempt at piecing together the innings, batting securely for a while after his team had slipped to 34 for 4. His efforts, however, were not supported by the men at the other end. Sabbir Rahman soon ran at Thisara and hoisted him to mid-on. 

Source: ESPNcricinfo