Survival will be foremost in Bangladesh’s mind whereas Sri Lanka will aim for a winning start when they cross swords in the second Super 4s match of the Asia Cup here on Saturday.
A seven-wicket towelling at the hands of Pakistan in the Super 4s opener in Lahore has made a victory mandatory for Bangladesh against the Lankans, assuming that the weather remains dry enough for the match to take place.
A defeat will almost certainly put an end to their Asia Cup campaign. Batting is their main concern, and they will have to address it immediately.
They did make 334/5 against Afghanistan, but have failed against more capable bowling units of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, making meagre totals of 164 and 193 respectively.
That propensity to go flat against top-class opponents will worry them going into the match against Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankans bank on in-form bowlers Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana to inflict damage on Bangladesh.
The pace-spin combination of Pathirana and Theekshana had shared six wickets among themselves to restrict Bangladesh to a sub-200 total in the league match.
