Samarawickrama's composed knock seals SL's semi-final berth

Sri Lanka 115 for 6 (Samarawickrama 48*, Marufa 3-21) beat Bangladesh 114 (Praboda 3-21, Mostary 34) by four wickets

Harshitha Samarawickrama played a splendid innings of 48 not out off 37 balls to take Sri Lanka over the line in a low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh. The defending champions secured a semi-final berth with the four-wicket win and will play the side that finishes second in Group A on Friday, by virtue of topping Group B.

An excellent opening spell of 2 for 17 from Marufa Akter put Bangladesh in firm control of the match after they posted a below-par target of 115, thanks to Chamudi Praboda's career-best figures of 3 for 21.

Sri Lanka, for much of the chase, found themselves behind the required run rate as they lost their top order inside the powerplay and were five down by the tenth over. But a resolute Samarawickrama brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by absorbing the pressure throughout the middle overs before landing the final punches to seal the win. This was Sri Lanka's eighth consecutive win over Bangladesh.

Praboda strangles Bangladesh

This was only the sixth international match the 17-year-old left-arm spinner had played after making her debut against Pakistan in a three-match T20I series last month, and she doubled her tally of wickets on Sunday.

As Bangladesh looked to rebuild after Juairiya Ferdous fell in the fifth over, Praboda struck in her first over, the seventh of the match, to send the dangerous-looking Dilara Akter back to the hut two balls after being hit for a boundary by her. Dilara made a run-a-ball 26 after adjusting to the slow surface. She made her attacking intent known in the third over when she dispatched three consecutive balls from Sri Lanka pacer Chethana Vimukthi for boundaries.

Praboda and the other Sri Lankan spinners bowled with great discipline and used their variations with great guile to put a stranglehold on the Bangladesh batters, who managed just 114 for 8.

With Sobhana Mostary (34 off 41) and Shorna Akter (9 off 14) stretching their steady 41-run stand into the death overs, the Bangladesh dugout must have anticipated a much bigger total than what they eventually managed. Their hopes were bulldozed by Praboda in her last over as she accounted for both batters inside three balls. The left-arm spinner bamboozled Mostary with flight to have her stumped before drawing Dilara into chipping a tossed-up delivery back to her.