Skipper Md Mezbahuddin completed a hat-trick for Bangladesh which achieved the target thrice in initial 15 minutes and was 4-0 up before the interval. The other goals for Bangladeshi side came from Md Mahmud Ali, Akash Kumar Shaha and Md Sabbir.[break]
Johar Mohamed Zarwan netted both for Sri Lanka during the later stage of the match. Zarwan ended goal drought for Sri Lanka in the 67th minute through a freekick and netted another through spotkick after Bijoy Sarkar handled the ball in box.
Bangladesh will now take on host Nepal on Thursday.
Sri Lankan coach Sumith Walpola said that the early goals conceded by his team became unfortunate for his side. "We have not expected conceding early goals which became the turning point of the match," Walpola said.
Bangladesh which proved too strong for Sri Lanka dominated all departments of the game and piled up pressure from the beginning which lasted the final whistle. Bangladesh took an early eighth minute lead after captain Mezbahuddin made a superb strike from outside the box. Ali doubled the tally in the 14th minute and Shaha got the opportunity to score the third goal a minute later when he spectacularly sent the ball past net in second bar.
Skipper Mezbahuddin netted his second individual goal to make it 4-0 in the 39th when he brilliantly chest-controlled a cross of Md Sabbir in the box and beat helpless custodian K Dhanushka Lakshan.
Bangladesh continued with its domination in the second half as well and netted two others in a row. In the 57th minute, Sabbir tapped in a cross from the right flank. Skipper Mezbahuddin completed his hat-trick six minutes later in his lone effort when he unleashed a powerful strike from the edge of box to stun the substituted Lankan goalie Abdulla Mohmad Uzman two minutes after his entry in the ground.
Zarwan pulled one back in the 67th minute through a freekick from the left flank which deflected at Bangladeshi wall before entering the net. He got another four minutes from time through spotkick.
Besides scoring half a dozen goals, Bangladesh also squandered about four other scoring chances while Sri Lanka created a couple of attractive moves.
On Monday Pakistan had defeated India 1-0 in the inaugural match.
Following his side´s impressive win, Bangladesh assistant coach Totam Sukur Mohmmad said that his team targets to reach the final of the event. Mohmmad, however, had not expected a win with such a huge margin against Sri Lanka. "We have not expected such a huge win and we had not played any practice match either." said Mohmmad and termed the goals his side conceded to be silly goals.
Today´s match
Maldives Vs Pakistan at 15:30 NST
Venue: Dasharath Stadium
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