Sri Lanka defeat Bangladesh by five wickets in feisty T20 World Cup clash

Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in a feisty T20 World Cup clash, hammering home their status as surprise title contenders.

Chasing an imposing target of 172, the 2014 champions saw Charith Asalanka (80 not out) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (53) lead them to victory for a fourth successive win after three triumphs in the qualifying round.

Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim, with an undefeated 57 and opener Mohammad Naim, who hit 62, starred for Bangladesh in the Super 12 game after being put into bat.

England, Australia, South Africa and West Indies are the other teams in the group from where the top two will make the semi-finals.

“I am happy to hit a winning knock for my country,” said Asalanka who got the winning runs off a boundary with seven balls to spare.

“When I faced the first ball, it looked like a good pitch and I backed myself to play my natural game. Rajapaksa played a brilliant knock and he changed the momentum.”

Asalanka made his runs from 49 balls, hitting five fours and five sixes as he and Rajapaksa put on 86 for the fourth wicket.

For Rajapaksa, victory was the perfect way to celebrate his 30th birthday.

“We are a rebuilding side, we are quite young and we have started believing in ourselves — that’s one of the reasons we’ve been winning,” he said.

“We were underdogs before we entered the Super 12s but there are 22 million people hoping we’ll bring the cup back home.”