Nisshin, 03 October (H.S.):

Sri Lanka produced an impressive all-round performance to defeat Bangladesh by 63 runs and win the bronze medal in men’s cricket at the Asian Games 2026. With the victory, Sri Lanka’s medal tally at the Asian Games rose to three.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Sri Lanka endured a disastrous start, losing four wickets for 21 runs inside the first five overs. Bangladesh’s spin bowlers made excellent use of the turn and bounce on offer from the pitch, putting the Sri Lankan batting under considerable pressure.

Sahan Arachchige and Ashen Bandara then steadied the innings. However, the real momentum shift came with the arrival of Tharindu Ratnayake. The all-rounder smashed 65 off just 32 balls, including seven fours and five sixes. His aggressive innings rescued Sri Lanka from 51 for four and helped them post 165 for nine in their allotted 20 overs.

Arachchige contributed a composed 33 off 37 balls. Ratnayake brought up his half-century in just 26 balls. After their early setbacks, Sri Lanka added 114 runs during the final 15 overs.

Chasing 166, Bangladesh also suffered an extremely poor start. Nuwan Thushara bowled a wicket-maiden in the opening over, dismissing Saif Hassan for a duck. Ratnayake then sent Tanzid Hasan Tamim back to the pavilion, while Thushara followed up with an accurate yorker to dismiss Litton Das without scoring.

By the end of the fourth over, Bangladesh had slumped to 18 for four. Towhid Hridoy attempted to offer some resistance, scoring 11 off six balls, but he too fell to Ratnayake.

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Wanindu Hasaranga then increased Bangladesh’s troubles with their spin bowling. Viyaskanth struck with consecutive deliveries to dismiss Parvez Hossain Emon and Mehidy Hasan. Hasaranga also claimed the wickets of Rishad Hossain and Yasir Ali.

Yasir Ali scored 21 off 16 balls and Rishad Hossain made 10 off five deliveries to briefly raise hopes of a Bangladesh recovery. However, the innings never recovered. Nasum Ahmed top-scored with 26 off 28 balls, but his dismissal in the 18th over effectively ended Bangladesh’s resistance, with the team bowled out for 102 in 17.3 overs.

For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Thushara took two wickets for 18 runs, while Wanindu Hasaranga and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth also claimed two wickets apiece. Ratnayake was among Sri Lanka’s key performers, contributing 65 runs with the bat and making an early breakthrough with the ball.

With the bronze medal, Sri Lanka’s Asian Games medal tally increased to three. Earlier, Rumesha Tharanga Pathirage had won gold in the men’s javelin throw, while Sri Lanka’s women’s cricket team had secured the silver medal.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 165/9, 20 overs (Tharindu Ratnayake 65, Sahan Arachchige 33; Mehidy Hasan 2/19, Saif Hassan 2/28) defeated Bangladesh 102 all out, 17.3 overs (Nasum Ahmed 26; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/17, Tharindu Ratnayake 2/18, Nuwan Thushara 2/18) by 63 runs.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar