Mercurial SL seek an encore in scrap for title

ESPNCricinfo: It was a nothing game for Bangladesh. Beyond making a statement ahead of the final, there was little to gain and little to lose. That is no excuse for their monster defeat on Thursday, but perhaps it explains why so little fight was evident. So good had Bangladesh been in the first three matches, however, that Sri Lanka will know the trophy will not come so easy; they will have to scrap for it.

Where only a few years ago teams preparing to play Sri Lanka would target the big-ticket batsmen - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene - the Sri Lanka of 2018 find themselves faced with a similar challenge. If they can neutralise Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, the match is half-won. That is, however, a big if. The leaner, meaner Tamim, in particular, has enjoyed batting against Sri Lanka since 2012. Of his last seven scores against Sri Lanka, two have been hundreds, and two others have been half-centuries. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mashrafe Mortaza have memorable recent performances against Sri Lanka as well.

How Bangladesh are to neutralise Sri Lanka is a more vexed question. There is no formula to Sri Lanka’s cricket at the moment. Even they don’t really know where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Some days - as on Thursday - they are incandescent, blasting out oppositions for meagre scores, before mowing down the target with the bat. Other days, they are given to dramatic implosions, and slapstick fielding. Perhaps the following sums up their state: Sri Lanka’s most consistent player of the tournament has been Thisara Perera - a player whose inconsistency has been the most frustrating feature of his career. Unusually for a series in South Asia, the quicks have been more effective than the slow bowlers - only two spinners featuring among the top nine tournament wicket-takers. Between Mashrafe Mortaza, Mushfiqur Rahim and Rubel Hossain, Bangladesh appear to have the better seam attack. To outshine them, Sri Lanka’s attack must find the magic they did on Thursday.

Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal said: “We need to be competitive first of all. The good result will come from that.”

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said: “The message to everyone in the team has been to remain positive despite the loss on Thursday. If we let this result get us down, it will affect us in the final.”