Tigers denied gold on the flip of a coin

FE Team | Published: October 03, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

The dream gold mission of the defending champions Bangladesh men's team in the 17th Asian Games Cricket came to an immature end in the semifinal stage as they lost the match-deciding toss against Sri Lanka at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground in Incheon, South Korea on Thursday, reports UNB.
Sri Lanka, favoured by lady luck, reached the final of Asian Games Men' s Cricket to play last time runners-up Afghanistan on Friday. The islanders Sri Lanka reached the semifinal eliminating hosts South Korea by huge 117 runs.
Holders Bangladesh, which smartly reached the semifinal crushing Kuwait by 203 runs in the last quarterfinal on Wednesday, will now battle for the consolation bronze medal against Hong Kong, also on Friday.
Sent into bat first in the day's 2nd semis, the Tigers scored 59 for 3 in 11 overs against Sri Lanka before the match was stopped by rain. Eventually, the fate of the match was decided by toss as match referee Venkatapathi Raju found the ground unplayable till 5:30 pm (KOR time).
Match referee Raju then took the two captains out to toss for the result. As the match referee tossed the coin, Sri Lankan captain Lahiru Thirimanne called 'Tails'. Tails it was and Sri Lanka were through to the Asian Games Cricket final to play Afghanistan for the gold on Friday. No rain is forecast for that game.
In the day's semis, Bangladesh made a frustrating start against Sri Lanka losing top three wickets-Anamul Haque (0), Mohammad Mithun (0) and Shakib Al Hasan (1) -- for just six runs in 3.2 overs.
But, opener Tamim Iqbal pairing with number five Sabbir Rahman carried the team total to a respectable position, contributing 53 runs in the 4th wicket stand.
Tamim scored not out 24 runs off 33 balls with two boundaries while Sabbir Rahman made not out 27 off 25 balls with two fours and a six.
LHD Dilhara took two wickets for two runs while I Udana took one for 10 runs.
Four teams-holders Bangladesh, runners-up Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong-directly played in the quarterfinals of the 17th Asian Games Cricket.