Monday Dec 15, 2025
Monday Dec 15, 2025
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Skipper Dunith Wellalage and teammates celebrate Sri Lanka ‘A’s win over Bangladesh ‘A’
Sahan Arachchige celebrates his half-century
Sri Lanka ‘A’ skipper Dunith Wellalage led from the front to steer his team into the semi-finals of the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament when they pulled off a thrilling six-run win against Bangladesh ‘A’ in the final Group A match played in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.
Wellalage, who took the Player of the Match award, first starred in a 52-run partnership off 28 balls with Sahan Arachchige to pull his side out of trouble, contributing a valuable 23 off 14 balls (2 fours, 1 six).
Thanks largely to this partnership, Sri Lanka ‘A’ recovered from 99 for 5 to post a challenging score of 159 for 7. Arachchige held the innings together with a composed knock of 69 off 49 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes) before falling to the penultimate delivery.
In Bangladesh ‘A’’s reply, Wellalage ran through the middle order, taking 3 for 19 to restrict them to a total of 153 for 6.
The win meant that Sri Lanka ‘A’ finished second in the group to Bangladesh ‘A’, edging out Afghanistan ‘A’ on net run rate. All three teams finished with two wins, one loss, and four points apiece. Afghanistan ‘A’ were the defending champions, having beaten Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the final of the last edition.
From Group B, Pakistan Shaheens — the only unbeaten team in the tournament, with three wins out of three — and India ‘A’ qualified for the semi-finals.Semi-final line-up for today:
2nd semi-final –
Sri Lanka ‘A’ v Pakistan Shaheens at 8 p.m.
The final will take place on Sunday at 8 p.m.
Scores:
(Sahan Arachchige 69, Dunith Wellalage 23, Ripon Mondol 2 for 41)
(Habibur Rahman 27, Zawad Abrar 26, Akbar Ali 25, Yasir Ali 20, Dunith Wellalage 3 for 19)
