Sri Lanka’s loss to Bangladesh yesterday at the De Soysa Stadium will mean that the host country will have to play reigning champions India in the semi-final. Bangladesh, who finished unbeaten top of Group B, will meet Afghanistan in the other semi-final on Thursday at the same venue.

Sri Lanka’s 42-run loss to Bangladesh was precipitated by a superb 126 by opening batsman M.H. Joy. His Player of the Match  140-ball knock was studded with  12 fours and two sixes in what was the highest individual score in the tournament.

Bangladesh posted 273 for 7 wickets and dismissed Sri Lanka for 231 in 47.4 overs with R. Hasan doing the damage with the ball claiming 3 for 49. The highest a Sri Lankan batsman could muster was skipper Nipun Dananjaya’s 36 followed by 33 apiece by Kamil Mishra and Ashan Wickramasinghe against the tight Bangladeshi bowling attack with the hosts finding the pressure of the 274-run chase too much to cope with.

Meanwhile, Nepal got the better of the United Arab Emirates by a massive 160-run margin on a total of 285 for 9 in 50 overs at the Free Trade Zone grounds in Katunayake yesterday. Skipper R. Paudel’s top score of 67 earned him the Player of the Match award. UAE was bowled out for 125 in 34.4 overs with S. Dhakal claiming 3 for 20.

CHIEF SCORES: 

Bangladesh 273/7 (50 Overs) (M. H. Joy 126, T. Hridoy 50, D. Madushanka 3/54) vs Sri Lanka 231 All out (47.4 Overs (K. Mishara 33, A. Wickramasinghe 33, N. Dananjaya 36, R. Silva 42, R. Hasan 3/49)

Nepal 285/9 (50 Overs (A. Sheikh 45, R. Paudel 67, S. Jora 48, R. Khan 44, K. Airee 41, S. Sharma 3-26 M. Tahir 3/62,) vs UAE 125 All out (34.4 Overs (S. Dhakal 3-20)

By Srian Obeyesekere

-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-