Asalanka guides Lanka to victory

SL’s Charith Asalanka en route his unbeaten 80. Pic/Getty Images

Young left-hander Charith Asalanka smashed an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls while fellow southpaw Bhanuka Rajapaksa made a quickfire half-century as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by five wickets in their T20 World Cup Super 12 Group 1 match here on Sunday.

Sri Lanka suffered a mid-innings mini batting collapse, but recovered in time to chase down the target of 172 with seven balls to spare, thanks to brilliant half centuries from Asalanka and Rajapaksa (53 off 31 balls).

Asalanka, who has played just eight ODIs and four T20Is before Sunday's match, held the Sri Lanka innings together, hitting five fours and as many sixes in his entertaining unbeaten knock. Coming in the 10th over, Rajapaksa smashed three fours and as many sixes in his 31-ball innings as Sri Lanka reached 172 for 5 in 18.5 overs.

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