During the 1986 Asia Cup, the maximum runs were scored by Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka (105). He was also selected as the Player of the Series. During this championship, 4 matches were played amongst 3 countries. The third match of this tournament was played on 2nd April 1986 and the venue was Asgiriya Stadium in Sri Lanka. The participants in this match were Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka was led by Duleep Mendis and the captain of Bangladesh was Gazi Ashraf. The toss was won by Sri Lanka and they opted to field.
Poor performance
Bangladesh could not stand up to the Sri Lankan bowling attack and merely failed to create any impression. The Sri Lankan bowlers were very consistent and three of them picked up 2 wickets each. The opening batsmen of Bangladesh added 26 runs for the first wicket. Raqibul Hasan was the first batsman to return to the pavilion, when he was trapped leg before wicket by Arjuna Ranatunga for 12 runs. Just 3 runs later, Nurul Abedin was caught by Roshan Mahanama off the bowling of Ravi Ratnayeke, when he had scored 13 runs in 29 balls. When the team score reached 49, Gazi Ashraf was dismissed for 10 in 24 deliveries. The bowler was Arjuna Ranatunga and the catch was taken by Brendon Kuruppu. Minhajul Abedin became the top scorer for the Bangladesh side. He faced 63 deliveries and accrued 40 runs, but eventually was run out. Shaheedur Rahman contributed 25 runs in 48 deliveries. Duleep Mendis took his catch off the bowling of Ravi Ratnayeke. Rafiqul Alam was clean bowled by Kaushik Amalean for 10. The remaining batsmen could not reach double figures. At the end of 45 overs, Bangladesh accumulated 131 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
Gurusinha leads the way
The Sri Lankan innings did not begin satisfactorily. When the score was merely 8, Brendon Kuruppu was caught by Samiur Rahman off the bowling of Golam Nousher on a personal score of 3. The other opener, Roshan Mahanama added 25 runs in 50 deliveries, but finally was caught by Hafizur Rahman off the bowling of Golam Faruq. He was ably assisted by the No. 3 batsman, Asanka Gurusinha. Roy Dias was totally unsuccessful and after facing 5 deliveries, he was dismissed for a duck. The bowler was Gazi Ashraf and the catch was taken by Raqibul Hasan. Sri Lanka did lose any further wickets. Gurusinha remained unbeaten on 44 in 91 balls. Arjuna Ranatunga appeared in a bit of hurry as he scored a quickfire 41 in 46 deliveries. Sri Lanka reached the total of 132 for 3 wickets in 31.3 overs and won the match. Asanka Gurusinha was chosen as the Man of the Match. 