India were knocked out of the Asia Cup after minnows Bangladesh continued their giant-killing act by upsetting Sri Lanka by five wickets in the last league match here on Tuesday.
Chasing a revised target of 212 after a rain interruption, the spirited hosts held their nerve to make their maiden entry into the summit showdown of the tournament where they will meet Pakistan on Thursday.
Nasir Hossain (36 not out) hit the winning boundary straight down the ground as the home crowd at the jam-packed Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium went into a state of frenzy.
Tamim Iqbal (59, 57b, 9x4), Shakib Al Hasan (56, 46b, 7x4), Nasir (36, 61b, 3x4) and Mahmadullah (32 n.o., 33b, 3x4) were the notable batting heroes for Bangladesh who recorded their second consecutive upset win after having beaten India last Friday.
Put into bat, Sri Lanka were all out for 232 in 49.5 overs with Chamara Kupugedegera (62, 92b, 4x4), Lahiru Thirimanne (48, 73b) and Upul Tharanga (48, 44b) making significant contributions.
But the target was reduced to 212 in 40 overs after a heavy downpour during the innings break, which lasted for a little more than an hour.
India needed a Sri Lankan victory to qualify for the final but now will have to pack their bags and return home.
Prior to Tuesday’s match, Bangladesh were on four points and India on eight. But the hosts’ win shut the door on India as they had defeated the Men in Blue earlier in the meet.
Sri Lanka had a chance after Bangladesh were off to a bad start, losing three wickets with just 40 runs on the board.
But opener Iqbal and Shakib staged a remarkable comeback, adding 76 runs for the fourth wicket in just over 12 overs.
The duo played sensible cricket before Iqbal fell to off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake.
The offie then trapped Shakib to deal another blow to the hosts in a crucial phase of the match.
But Nasir and Mahmudullah kept their cool and in the end finsihed the job with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier, Bangladesh kept their hopes alive for a place in the final by restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total.
Kapugedera, Thirimanne and Tharanga made useful contributions in the middle-order after a top-order collapse saw the Islanders reeling at 32 for three in 10 overs.
Comeback man Nazmul was the pick of the bowlers with figures of three for 32 while left-arm spinners Shakib (2/56) and Abdur Razzaq (2/44) also got important breakthroughs.
Medium pacer Nasir, who was drafted into the XI in place of Shafiul Islam, struck triple blows within the first 10 overs.
Nazmul, who played his last ODI back in October last year, bowled with a lot of control as he rocked the Lankan top-order removing Mahela Jayawardene (5), Tillekaratne Dilshan (19) and Kumar Sangakkara (6).
Jayawardene who has played some poor shots in the two earlier matches once again tried to play across the line to a delivery that moved in a shade and breached his defence.
Sangakkara tried to play an expansive cover drive off Nazmul only to be caught by Nazimuddin. Dilshan hit three boundaries but then inside-edged one on to his stumps.
SCORE BOARD
Sri Lanka
Jayawardene b Nazmul 5
Dilshan b Nazmul 19
Sangakkara c N’ddin b Nazmul 6
Kapugedera c Shakib b Razzak 62
Thirimanne st Rahim b Razzak 48
Tharanga c Rahim b Shahadat 48
Maharoof c Rahim b Shakib 3
Kulasekara lbw Shakib 1
Senanayake (not out) 19
Malinga b Mashrafe 10
Lakmal (run out) 0
Extras (LB-3, W-8) 11
Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 232
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-29, 3-32, 4-120, 5-169, 6-175, 7-183, 8-204, 9-230.
Bowling: Mortaza 9.5-1-30-1, N Hossain 8-1-32-3, Shahadat 8-0-51-1, Razzak 10-0-44-2, Shakib 10-1-56-2, Mahmudullah 4-0-16-0.
BANGLADESH (revised target 212 in 40)
Tamim c Thirimanne b S’nayake 59
Nazimuddin b Kulasekara 6
Jahurul c Kapugedera b Lakmal 2 Rahim b Kulasekara 1
Shakib lbw Senanayake 56
Nasir (not out) 36
Mahmudullah (not out) 32
Extras (LB-13, W-7) 20
Total (for 5 wkts, 37.1 overs) 212
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-39, 3-40, 4-116, 5-135.
Bowling: Malinga 8-0-29-0, Kulasekara 6-0-30-2, Lakmal 7-0-40-1, Senanayake 8-0-38-2, Maharoof 6-0-46-0, Dilshan 2.1-0-16-0.
