So the day had started with fear of an abandoned or a shortened game because of the air pollution in Delhi. But very quickly, the topic of discussion became Angelo Mathews' unwanted feat of becoming the first to be timed-out in international cricket. Amid all this, we could forget about Bangladesh's first win over Sri Lanka in ODI World Cups - and Asalanka's century in vain - as the points table got a shake up. If not the World Cup, there is the Champions Trophy to play for. We are at the business end of this tournament, so do join us for the action tomorrow. Until then, it's goodbye and good night from us! Thanks for joining.
Shakib Al Hasan, now as captain: "When I won the toss, I didn't have any hesitation in bowling first because we had trained here [in the dew]. We had to bat deep. Luckily we got a big partnership. Shanto and I applied ourselves really well. We would have loved to finish early - with lesser wickets [lost] - but a win is a win. One of our fielders came to me and said that if I appealed, he would be out. The umpire asked me if I was serious. It's in the laws; I don't know if it's right or wrong. I felt like I was at war. Whatever I had to do, I did it. There will be debates. Today that (the time out) helped, I won't deny that!"
Kusal Mendis: "Charith played a brilliant innings, but we were 30-40 runs short; 320 would have been good enough on this wicket. I'm happy that Pathum, Sadeera and Dilshan are coming through. I think in the future we'll have a very good team which shows promise. We had a couple of injuries, and that was the reason we had so many changes and newcomers. But we also made mistakes; had we played better cricket, we would have a better chance of entering the top four. It's very disappointing. When Mathews came to the crease, there were five seconds left. When he came out, he found out about the strap of the helmet. It was disappointing. We expected him to score runs for us; it's disappointing that the umpires couldn't step in and make good decisions."
Time for the presentations
Murali: "Afg officially made it to Champions trophy" --- Yup, true
Shakib Al Hasan is the Player of the Match: "There wasn't much for the bowlers. We bowled well up front. There were short boundaries. Bowling, we have always felt, wins us more matches. We knew we could fight back. We kept on believing. The ground dimension helped [while batting]. A few shots came off, and I never looked back. We could have been consistent; that is the one disappointment."
Nazmus : "Winning runs off Mathews' ball. Add that to the list of poetic ironies"
Manu Ajmani: "Bangladesh just made the match interesting for a few seconds there... Phew!"
9.57pm Bangladesh hunt down 280 in what is first victory over Sri Lanka in five attempts in an ODI World Cup. That not only ends Sri Lanka's campaign in this World Cup, but also keeps Bangladesh afloat for a spot in the Champions Trophy in 2025. What was 210 for 2 at one stage become 269 for 7 as Bangldesh stuttered and Sri Lanka hoped for a miracle, but Shanto's 90 and Shakib's 82 had set up a solid base already.
Mathews back
END OF OVER:41 | 10 Runs 1 Wkt | BAN: 278/7 (2 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 6.78, RRR: 0.22)
- Tanzim Hasan Sakib5 (5b)
- Towhid Hridoy15 (7b)
- Maheesh Theekshana9-0-44-2
- Dilshan Madushanka10-1-69-3
Just three to win now
The tail begins, as here comes Tanzim
Mehidy Hasan Miraz c Asalanka b Theekshana 3 (9m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 60.00