T20 World Cup: Meet Asalanka and Rajapaksa, heroes of Sri Lanka win

T20 World Cup: Asalanka and Rajapaksa put on an 86-run stand in 52 balls to earn Sri Lanka a thrilling win to get its World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa, left, and Charith Asalanka gesture to each other during the match against Bangladesh in Sharjah.

Sri Lanka seemed to be on the mat, being reduced to 79/4 inside 10 overs in the chase of 172, when Bhanuka Rajapaksa joined Charith Asalanka in the middle in the Super 12 clash against Bangladesh.

The duo put on an 86-run stand in 52 balls to earn Sri Lanka a thrilling five-wicket win to get its World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

BAN vs SL - AS IT HAPPENED

Asalanka (80* off 49) and Rajapaksa (53 off 31) are relative newcomers to the Lankan side with the former playing just his fifth T20I, while the latter is playing his 14th.

In fact, Asalanka made his debut in the T20I series against India earlier this year and scored a 26-ball 44 in a losing cause. The 24-year-old also had a good outig with the bat in the ODI series, aggregating 127 runs in three matches, which included a 65.

Rajapaksa, who made his T20I debut in 2019, returned to the side after 18 months away from the side, in the series against South Africa. He has a career best of 77 against England in 2019.