Bangladesh suffer heavy defeat to Sri Lanka

The fate of the match was effectively written in the very first two overs. And yet, the spectators in the stands did not leave — for two main reasons. One was the partnership between Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain, which carried Bangladesh to a total that at least offered a glimmer of hope. At 139 for 6, there was still reason to believe — after all, teams have defended even smaller scores in T20 cricket.

The other reason was the crowd itself: a large portion of the Bangladeshi supporters were migrant workers. Some had travelled long distances, spending their hard-earned money to get into Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Having come with such effort, perhaps none of them wished to leave after just a brief spell of cricket.

But what they witnessed at the start was nothing short of a nightmare. By comparison, the eventual six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka, with 32 balls to spare, may even have felt a little less painful.

At least Bangladesh batted through the full 20 overs, finishing without losing another wicket at the end. Credit went to Jaker and Shamim's record stand of 86 runs off 61 balls — the highest ever for Bangladesh for a sixth-wicket partnership or lower in T20 internationals. Even so, the total always felt short, with Sri Lanka's bowlers just as sharp at the death as they had been up front.

To pull off a win, Bangladesh's bowlers needed something extraordinary. For the first eight deliveries of the chase, they gave nothing away, not even a boundary. In the second over, Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Kusal Mendis, igniting a flicker of belief.

That pressure could have mounted further, but when Shariful Islam induced a false shot from Misara, Mehedi dropped the catch. From there, the frustration only deepened. Misara went on to add 95 for the second wicket with Pathum Nissanka, a partnership that decided the contest. By the time Mehedi eventually removed Nissanka for 50 off 34 balls in the 11th over, the course of the match had already been set.

Misara, reprieved earlier, remained unbeaten, guiding his side home with 46 from 32 deliveries, including four sixes and two fours. Bangladesh did claim two more wickets at the other end, but they served only to reduce the margin of defeat.

After failing to score a single run in the first two overs, merely dragging the game this far was perhaps an achievement in itself. Yet the loss leaves Bangladesh's Asia Cup hopes hanging by a thread. Against Afghanistan in their final group match, victory alone will not suffice — much will now depend on the tangled web of ifs and buts.