Bangladesh left-arm spinner Sohrawardi Shuvo (C), who has just taken another Sri Lankan wicket, is the toast of his teammates during the second semifinal of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on Thursday. Shuvo took four wickets for six runs to lay the platform of an easy five-wicket win and a clash in today's gold decider against surprise package Afghanistan. Photo: Courtesy

Bangladesh rode on some excellent spin bowling to romp into the final of the Asian Games cricket with a comfortable five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Guanggong International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Mohammad Ashraful's boys, who are now on the brink of making history by clinching the first gold medal for the country, set up today's final clash with high-flying Afghanistan, who had stunned Pakistan in the first semifinal by 22-runs.
Bangladesh's slow bowlers led by Sohrawardi Shuvo, who claimed four wickets conceding only six runs in his 4-over spell, rattled the Sri Lankan batting to wrap them up for only 101.
Recovering from the early loss of Mohammad Mithun for just one run, Bangladesh reached the target of 102 runs for five wickets with 4.4 overs to spare thanks to Faisal Hossain who scored the team highest 24-ball 33 that contained three fours and a six.
Naeem Islam made the second best of 25 runs that came from 34 balls with two boundaries while captain Ashraful contributed 18 off 15 balls hitting one four and a six.
Earlier, Nazmul Hossain provided the first breakthrough by removing 30 Test veteran Nuwan Zoysa after Sri Lanka had decided to bat first upon winning the toss.
Then pacer Shahadat Hossain rocked the Lankan top order with double strikes as the lanky right-arm paceman dismissed Jeevantha Kulatunga (25) and Indika de Saram (2) in quick succession.
Sri Lanka, who brought eleven internationals to Guangzhou, then succumbed to the Bangladeshi slow bowlers and failed to recover from the early damage.
Number six batsman Chinthaka Jayasinghe salvaged some pride as the 32-year old right-hander clobbered two sixes and a boundary during his 22-ball 28.
Bangladesh coach Sarwar Imran heaped praise on his spinners for the convincing victory in the semifinal.
"I think the spinners did an excellent job. They didn't give any chance to the Sri Lankan middle-order to recover from the early collapse. Our bowlers bowled according to the plan. It's an advantage for us that we have variety in our spin bowling," said an excited Imran.
He however warned that it would not be an easy task for his team to beat Afghanistan in the final and they would need to play their best cricket while standing on the cusp of history.
"I don't think it will be an easy task to beat Afghanistan. Afghanistan came here with their full strength side and they are really good in T20 cricket," he cautioned.
Captain Ashraful was however confident about his team's chance of winning the first-ever gold medal in the competition.
"Our bowling and fielding was really good and I'm confident about the final if we can continue our good work," hoped Ashraful.
SCORES IN BRIEF
SRI LANKA: 101 all out in 20 overs (Zoysa 11, Kulatunga 25, Perera 14, Jayasinghe 28; Nazmul 1-11, Shahadat 3-29, Naeem 1-4, Shuvo 4-6)
BANGLADESH: 102-5 in 15.2 overs (Nazimuddin 16, Naeem 25, Ashraful 18, Faisal 33; Zoysa 2-15).
Result: Bangladesh won by five wickets.