Home
On September 21, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by four wickets with a ball to spare in their T20 Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash. In the run chase of 169, young opener Saif Hassan made a mark with his match-winning 45-ball 61. As Bangladesh stunned the Sri Lankan side, Hassan said that the team arrived in UAE believing they will reach the final.
"Yes, definitely we are confident of reaching the final," said Saif in the post-match press conference. "Before coming here, everyone believed that we would play the final.”
"We are one step ahead and still there are two more matches for us, and our next focus is only on the next match.
"Definitely, one should dream and one should dream big but we should proceed step by step. Our next focus will be fully on the match against India and the match after that will be seen later.”
After the wicket fell in the first over, Hassan took on Nuwan Thushara. He hit a total of three sixes in the powerplay overs. He was well-supported by captain Litton Das. Bangladesh were 59/1 after six overs. Hassan revealed that they did not have a specific plan but decided to counter-attack during field restrictions.
"After the wicket fell (Tanzid) our plan was to counter-attack. There wasn't a very specific plan, but we held a team meeting. Communication was good and Litton could anticipate what the next ball would be and that's what he was telling me and Alhamdulillah, it worked," said Saif.
"During the PowerPlay, since there are field restrictions one should obviously cash in and obviously we have team meetings before the match and there is a specific plan against every bowler. Everyone has their own individual plan and we just try to deliver according to our plan," he added.
After Hassan, Hridoy hits fifty
Hassan hit a total of four sixes and two fours during his stay at the crease. After Das fell in the seventh over, the opener shared a crucial 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Towhid Hridoy who went on to score 58 runs from 37 balls. In the last over, Dasun Shanaka struck twice but Bangladesh got over the line with a ball to spare.
Back-to-back matches in Dubai
Bangladesh's next match is against India on September 24 in Dubai. They are the only team in Super Four who will play matches on consecutive days. Their last Super Four match is against Pakistan on September 25.
ADVERTISEMENT
