Bangla Tigers roar at the 'Ring of Fire'

Dubai - It was well and truly the start of a festival of cricket

The Asia Cup couldn't have asked for a better opening than this since its return to these shores after 23 years.
The UAE is still reeling under the sweltering August heat but that didn't deter fans from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka fans from rocking up to the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the late afternoon start on Saturday.
Kitted up in their respective jerseys and holding flags and placards, it was well and truly the start of a festival of cricket, an Asian one at that.
And the cast for the opening act took that cue by singing from the same hymn sheet. Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim gave the perfect riposte after Sri Lanka's comeback man Lasith Malinga had them on the mat, with a career-best century.
Rahim's sixth ODI hundred and Mohammad Mithun's maiden half-century in just his fourth ODI, saw Bangladesh recover to post a competitive 261.
It could have much more though with Sri Lanka's butter-fingered fielders giving them a reprieve initially, but the stop-start innings meant that they had to settle for much less.
But then, it was to be more than enough as the Lankans, who had done decently with the ball, failed to turn up with the bat, spluttering and succumbing to a 137-run defeat.
Malinga had marked his return to ODI cricket and quite possibly a ticket to the World Cup in England with a dangerous spell with his famed slingshot action.
The 35-year-old, who last featured in an ODI exactly a year ago against India in Colombo, snapped up four wickets from 10 overs, with those four costing a meagre 23 runs. It also included two maidens, a rarity these days.
All-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva returned with two wickets with his off-spin.
If Rahim and Mithun's rearguard were inspiring, there couldn't have been a better illustration of bravery than that of opener Tamim Iqbal.
The 29-year-old southpaw battled severe pain and a fracture to his left wrist following a snorter from Suranga Lakmal in the second over, to return at the fag end of the innings to swell Bangladesh's total.
Iqbal joined Rahim in the 47th over after the loss of the ninth wicket and the latter farmed the strike to add 31 valuable runs.
Iqbal's Asia Cup may have ended in tragic fashion, but before he returns to Bangladesh, he left a lasting impression.
When Iqbal had retired hurt, the odds had stacked up against Bangladesh. But Rahim and Mithun put their head down to first extinguish the fire before embarking on a rebuild.
And Bangaldesh's total was purely down to those two, who piled together 131 runs for the third wicket.
Rahim, who was the last man to be dismissed, fired his way to 144 from 150 deliveries that was peppered with 11 boundaries and a six.
It was the 31-year-old career-best, surpassing the 117 he made against India in Fatullah in 2014. And it couldn't have come at a better time for Bangladesh.
 
@font-face { font-family: Cambria; }@font-face { font-family: LyonText-Regular; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.NewTextjustifiedKTMainStyles, li.NewTextjustifiedKTMainStyles, div.NewTextjustifiedKTMainStyles { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 8.5pt; line-height: 10pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: LyonText-Regular; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; }div.Section1 { }
 
Bangladesh
T Iqbal not out                     2
L Das c Mendis b Malinga           0
Shakib b Malinga               0
M Rahim c Mendis b Perera     144
M Mithun c M Perera b Malinga   63
Mahmudullah c de Silva b Aponso         1
M Hossain c M Perera b Malinga   1
M Hasan c and b Lakmal           15
M Mortaza c Tharanga b de Silva 11
R Hossain lbw b de Silva           2
M Rahman run out             10
Extras: (lb4, nb1, w7)                 12
Total: (all out; 49.3 overs)         261
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-134, 4-136, 5-142, 6-175, 7-195, 8-203, 9-229
Bowling: Malinga 10-2-23-4 (nb1, w3) Lakmal 10-0-46-1 (w1) Aponso 9-0-55-1, T. Perera 7.3-0-51-1 (w1) , M. Perera 3-0-25-0, D. de Silva 7-0-38-2 (w1), M Shanaka 3-0-19-0
Sri Lanka
U Tharanga b M Mortaza 27
Ku Mendis lbw M Rahman 0
K Perera lbw M Hasan 11
D de Silva lbw M Mortaza 0
A Mathews lbw R Hossain 16
Da Shanaka run out Shakib 7
T Perera c R Hossain b M Hasan 6
D Perera st L Das b M Hossain 29
S Lakmal b M Rahman 20
A Aponso c (Sub) b Shakib 4
L Malinga Not Out 3
Extras (0b 1lb 0nb 0pen 0w) 1
Total (All out, 35.2 overs) 124
Fall: 1-22, 2-28, 3-32, 4-38, 5-60, 6-63, 7-69, 8-96, 9-120, 10-124
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 6-2-25-2 ; Mustafizur Rahman 6-0-20-2; Mehedi Hasan 7-1-21-2 Shakib Al Hasan 9.2-0-31-1; Rubel Hossain 4-0-18-1; Mosaddek Hossain 3-0-8-1
Toss: Bangladesh
Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (IND)
Tv umpire: Gregory Brathwaite (WIS)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

• Asia Cup 2019