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PHOTOS: Bangladesh reach Asia Cup final, India knocked out
Bangladesh reached its first Asia Cup final when it beat Sri Lanka by five wickets with nearly three overs to spare in a rain-disrupted match.
After limiting Sri Lanka to 232 in 49.5 overs, Bangladesh was handicapped by a mid-innings downpour, which reduced the winning target to 212 from 40 overs.
The home side did it with ease, as Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan smashed half centuries to reach the target in 37.1 overs.
The victory of the home side ensured that India's campaign in the championship is over. Bangladesh will meet Pakistan in the final on Thursday.
Hossain rocks Lankan top order
Earlier, useful contributions from Chamara Kapugedera, Lahiru Thirimanne and Upul Tharanga ensured Sri Lanka recover from a top-order collapse.
Nazmul Hossain who was drafted into the XI in place of Shafiul Islam, struck triple blows to cripple Lanka within first 10 overs.
Nazmul, who played his last ODI back in October last year, bowled with a lot of control as he rocked Lankan top-order removing Mahela Jayawardene, Tillekaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara.
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 during his brief stay but then inside-edged one on to his stumps.
Thirimanne, Kapugedera steady Sri Lanka
Thirimanne and Kapugedera then joined hands to stem the rot. The duo didn't take too many risks as they went on doing their job quietly.
Thirimanne missed out on a half century when he charged out to a Razzaq delivery that was going down leg-side. The ball ricocheted off Rahim's pads and hit stumps with the batsman out of his ground.
Kapugedera completed his eighth ODI half-century with a push towards mid-on that fetched him two runs. He found an able ally in Upul Tharanga (48) who was positive from the onset as they added 49 runs for the fifth wicket stand.
Kapugedera was finally dismissed for a well-made 62 off 93 balls when he tried to hit a cover drive off Razzaq only to find that Shakib pouching a brilliant low catch.
Thanranga takes the score past 200-run mark
Ferveez Maharoof and Nuwan Kulasekara soon followed and Sri Lanka were again down in the dumps with scorecard reading 183 for seven.
But Tharanga didn't stop playing his shots as he hit Shakib for a huge six over long on and then pushed down fine leg for a boundary that brought the team's 200.
Tharanga also missed out on a half century when he edged one off Shahadat Hossain trying to steer it down to third-man.
It was Sachitra Senanayake and Lasith Malinga who added valuable 26 runs for the ninth wicket to give the Lankan total some respectability.
Bangladesh off to a poor start after the downpour
Sri Lanka had a chance as Bangladesh were off to a bad start, losing three wickets with just 40 runs on the board.
Nuwan Kulasekara claimed two wickets in his opening spell but Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan added 76 runs for the fourth wicket.
Unheralded off-spinner Sachitra Senanayake, playing his first match of the tournament, briefly threatened to spoil Bangladesh's party when he dismissed both batsmen in the space of four overs.
Tamin, Shakib slam 50s
Tamim gave Senanayake a sharp return catch just after completing his third fifty of the tournament, but the bowler could not grasp it.
Senanayake, however, got his reward for superb bowling when he had Tamim caught by Lahiru Thirimanne for 59 off 57 balls.
Four overs later Shakib fell for 54 to Senanayake, who kept one low and trapped the left-hander lbw.
Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah continued the Bangladesh momentum, delighting the Sher-e-Bangla crowd, which included Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Nasir was unbeaten on 36 and Mahmudullah made 32 not out, the pair adding 77 runs for the sixth wicket.