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Asia Cup: Tigers face Sri Lanka in do-or-die clash Thursday

With an aim to confirm the Super Four berth in Asia Cup, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will lock horns in a do-or-die match Thursday at the Asia Cup in the UAE’s Dubai.

Both teams head into the match after suffering heavy defeats against Afghanistan.

The indomitable Afghans crushed Bangladesh by seven wickets and whacked Sri Lanka past by eight wickets and became the first team to move to the Super Four.

A straight victory is needed to reach the next round where every four teams will face off each other before the top two teams on the basis of points move to the final. Those who will concede defeat will be eliminated from the tournament straightway.

Bangladesh team director and former captain Khaled Mahmud said Sri Lankan cricketers do not have a quality bowling attack that will help the Tigers get the result their way.

However, Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka considers Bangladesh as an easier opponent than Afghanistan.

A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said the board president Nazmul Hassan Papon met the cricketers at their hotel on Wednesday and tried to bolster their confidence ahead of the big clash against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh so far played 12 matches against Sri Lanka and won just four, in contrast to losing eight. But what could motivate Bangladesh is that their highest chase and highest score in T20 cricket came against Sri Lanka and that too on Lankan soil.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are competing in group B of the Asia Cup. In Group A, India, Pakistan and Hong Kong are taking on each other.

Bangladesh may make a few changes to their playing XI.

Mohammad Naim, who made a comeback to the national team after hitting a hundred for Bangladesh A in the West Indies, failed to prove his T20 prowess in Bangladesh’s Asia Cup opener.

Parvez Hossain Emon, who has played only one T20 so far, may make it to the squad

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