Dasun Shanaka was stand-out performer for his team in do or die clash against Bangladesh: Nikhil Chopra

Team Sri Lanka completed an exciting victory over Bangladesh in their last group stage encounter of the 2022 T20 Asia Cup played on September 1 (Thursday). Sri Lanka opening batter Kusal Mendis stroked an excellent fifty for his side and stitched a crucial partnership with his skipper Dasun Shanaka. 

Mendis and Shanaka stitched a 50-run partnership and bailed their side from a tricky situation. The skipper played an outstanding knock of 45 runs in just 33 balls and smashed three fours and two maximums. Meanwhile, former Indian player and expert Nikhil Chopra named the Sri Lanka skipper as the batter who impressed him the most during Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh game. 

This is what we expect from a leader: Chopra on Dasun Shanaka

In a conversation with CricTracker on BatBricks7 presents Run Ki Runneeti show, Chopra said, "For me, the way skipper Dasun Shanaka batted when the wickets were falling and he looked to control the game. From a leader and a middle-order batter, you expect the same thing."

"Earlier we were talking that how the top three batters in a team look to set the platform, but the middle-order batters have a tough job of finishing the game, especially in the 20 or 50 over match due to the asking run rate. For me, Shanaka was the stand-out performer for his team in a do or die game," Nikkhil added. 

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka side will now take on Afghanistan in their first super four matches of the 2022 Asia Cup and they will want to emulate their good performance in the next game as well. Batters Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, and skipper Shanaka will have the responsibility of scoring runs for their team while the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne would want to have a major say with the ball for their team.

Afghanistan on the hand is undefeated in the tournament so far as they have previously beaten Lanka and Bangladesh. The Afghanistan side will also want to have a perfect start in the Super Four encounters after defeating Sri Lanka.