Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2023 Highlights: SL beat BAN by five wickets

Naim and Tanzid open for Bangladesh, with the latter making his debut today! Two left-handers at the top! Rajitha to bowl for Sri Lanka!

Both teams enter the the field for their respetive national anthems!

BAN: Mohammad Naim, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

SL: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana

After winning the toss, Shakib said, "We will bat first. Looks to me a dry wicket, hopefully we can put the runs on the board. We know Sri Lanka are a very good team, we have to be at our best in batting, bowling and fielding. We have got three seamers and three spinners in our squad."

Meanwhile, SL captain Shanaka said, "We would have liked to bat first but it is a good toss to lose with rain around. Even though we have four key players injured, the bases are well covered. Generally, I expect some turn here because there’s a bit of tear in these wickets. Very much excited. We have six batters, two all-rounders and three genuine bowlers. Matheesha Pathirana and Dunith Wellalage are playing."

Bangladesh captain Shakib wins the toss and opts to bat vs Sri Lanka!

Toss is coming now! It is scheduled for 2:30 PM IST and play will start at 3:00 PM IST. GET READY FOLKS! FOR AN EXCITING THRILLER AS BANGLADESH TAKE ON DEFENDING CHAMPIONS SRI LANKA!

Perera has recovered from COVID-19 and is in contention for a place in the playing XI. His last ODI was two years ago. Also, Wellalage is expected to be included in the XI so that there can be more batting depth.

Kusal Mendis hasn't been in good form for the past one year or two, but has evolved his game positively, especially in T20Is, where has been bolder at the top of the order. In ODIs, he dons the anchor role before looking to cut loose, and his team's batting form depends a lot on his performance. So he will need to shine for Sri Lanka, while batting!

Pallekele pitch is two-paced with bowlers rewarded for varying their pace. Sometimes, batting does get easy here, and better under the lights. Also, there is a chance of rain, or it could be very humid today!

1. Sri Lanka (286/6) beat Bangladesh (189) by 97 runs | May 28, 2021

2. Bangladesh (246) beat Sri Lanka (141/9) by 103 runs via D/L method | May 25, 2021

3. Bangladesh (257/6) beat Sri Lanka (224) by 33 runs | May 23, 2021

4. Sri Lanka (294/8) beat Bangladesh (172) by 122 runs | July 31, 2019

5. Sri Lanka (242/3) beat Bangladesh (238/8) by 7 wickets | July 28, 2019

In ODIs, Sri Lanka lead 40-9 vs Bangladesh. TWo matches haven't produced a winner between them. They last faced each other in May 2021, where Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in a three-match ODI series.

Bangladesh have only featured in one ODI in Pallekele vs Sri Lanka, in 2013 and the visitors won. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have the second-highest win percentage vs Bangaldesh (81.63 percentage) in ODI cricket. Only Pakistan have a higher percentage (86.48). But Sri Lanka have also lost four of their last ten matches vs Bangladesh.

25-year-old Mehidy will under the spotlight for Bangladesh, and is a veteran now because he made his debut in 2016. A good offspinner, he has also become good with the bat and has cemented his place in the playing XI. An all-round option, he offers his side a lot of squad depth, which was reflected by his match-winning ton vs India in December.

Bangladesh: W-L-L-W-W

Sri Lanka: W-W-W-W-W

Bangladesh will be without Litton, who is with an illness and has been replaced by Anamul. Meanwhile, they could use two offspinners, as Sri Lanka have many left-handed batters.

Sri Lanka will be without Hasaranga, who is expected to be replaced by Hemantha in the playing XI. Meanwhile, Perera is recovering from COVID-19.

Speaking ahead of the match, Bangladesh captain Shakib spoke about Litton's absence and revealed that Anamul would be replacing him.

"Yes, of course he (Litton) is a big miss as he was part of this team for the last four-five years consistently and he has been playing very well in the last couple of years. Having said that, this will give someone else an opportunity. As for Anamul replacing Litton, it's a like-for-like replacement as both of them are wicket-keepers and bat at the top of the order. We don't have a second wicket-keeper and it is a factor for us because in case something happens to Mushfiq bhai during a game, especially concussion or small injuries and he cannot keep in that game, we need a second wicket-keeper," he said.

Thundershowers are expected at the start of the match. The temperature will be around 29 degrees Celsius, and humidity levels to be around 49 percent! Hopefully the weather Gods don't mess around a lot!

Pakistan sealed a 238-run victory in the Asia Cup opener vs Nepal, in Multan. Chasing a target of 343, Nepal were bowled out for 104 in 23.4 overs, with Shadab taking four wickets. Meanwhile, Pakistan initially posted 342/6 in 50 overs, courtesy of a knock of 151 runs off 131 balls by Babar. Meanwhile, Iftikhar Ahmed slammed 109* off 71 deliveries. For Nepal's bowling department, Sompal bagged two wickets.

Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Naim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Afif Hossain, Anamul Haque, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Kusal Perera, Pramod Madushan, Dunith Wellalage, Binura Fernando

Hello and welcome everyone, to our live coverage of today's Asia Cup 2023 encounter between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Stay tuned folks for a thriller!