3rd ODI
Sri Lanka 280/9 (50.0 ov)
Bangladesh 210 (44.3 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 70 runs
Sri Lanka rode a fast start and a fast finish to a competitive score, bowled with discipline, and found some spirit in the field to defeat Bangladesh by 70 runs and snap a six-match losing streak that stretched back to January.
Perhaps encouragingly for the hosts, the architects of the victory were many. Upul Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka cracked 76 runs in the Powerplay, Kusal Mendis contributed a half-century, Thisara Perera produced a finishing salvo, and virtually all the frontline bowlers delivered good spells - though Nuwan Kulasekara was the best among them, claiming 4 for 37.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, will rue the batting collapse that cost them a series victory. Sri Lanka's 280 was competitive, but achievable, on a surface that remained good enough to allow No. 8 Mehedi Hasan hit a maiden ODI fifty. However, the match had slipped from them long before Mehedi came to the crease. Three batsmen were out inside four overs, and though Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan staged a 77-run recovery, the middle order collapsed after that partnership was broken. At 11 for 3 it seemed unlikely they could hunt down the target, but at 127 for 7, the match was effectively sealed.
The result saw the teams share the ODI series 1-1, just as they had shared the Tests. Two T20s are scheduled for next week.
Kulasekara, who was added to the squad only after the series had begun, relied more on tight lines and intelligent bowling than his characteristic inswing to make incisions. He should have had Tamim Iqbal off the fourth ball of the innings, when an edge flew at a catchable height between keeper and slip - neither of whom attempted the catch. At times over the past few months, missed chances such as this have hurt Sri Lanka, but not today: Tamim sent Kulasekara a return catch two balls later.
Sabbir Rahman's dismissal in Kulasekara's next over perhaps had more to do with the batsman's loose shot, than good bowling - Rahman nicking a very wide ball through to the keeper. Kulasekara came back later to mop up the innings - dismissing Mehedi and Taskin Ahmed. These were his best ODI figures since November 2013.
Bangladesh's middle-overs capitulation - in which they lost four wickets for 39 runs - was largely the work of Sri Lanka's spinners. Dilruwan Perera recovered from a 20-run first over to have Soumya stumped, then had Shakib caught at short cover a few overs later. Seekkuge Prasanna also bowled Mosaddek Hossain and Suranga Lakmal had Mahmudullah caught behind during this period.
Through the course of the second innings, Sri Lanka also fielded better than they have all year, with plenty of sharp work in the infield, and visible pep among the boundary riders as well. The first-over missed chance off Tamim was their only real mistake.
Bangladesh too, had squeezed Sri Lanka during the middle overs, but were not capable of preventing the final surge that propelled Sri Lanka to a good score. They had had the hosts at 230 for 7 in the 45th over, before Thisara and Dilruwan Perera bludgeoned 45 off 27 deliveries. Thisara built his innings with a little more intelligence than has recently been seen in his batting, laying low for a few balls before venturing his more ambitious shots. He hit four fours and a six in his 40-ball 52, but was constantly looking for the singles and twos as well.
Earlier, it had been Tharanga that set the innings off apace. His runs came through delectable cut shots, and effortless drives. In the fifth over he played a pull shot off Mashrafe Mortaza that seemed languid to the point of being casual, yet the ball carried all the way over the midwicket boundary. After the Powerplay, Bangladesh would impose themselves on the Sri Lanka, first through good bowling by the likes of Mehedi and Taskin, but also through sharp fielding, with which they effected two run outs.
When Mustafizur Rahman had Mendis nicking behind to leave Sri Lanka 194 for 5 in the 37th over, the hosts were in danger of squandering their good start. However, Sri Lanka's unusually long batting line up bailed them out. Mashrafe Mortaza, the captain, collected the innings' best figures of 3 for 65.
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2nd ODI
Sri Lanka 311 (49.5 ov)
Bangladesh
No result
The second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was called off due to incessant rain in Dambulla. Play was called off at 8.45pm, an hour and 15 minutes before the cut-off time.
It was an anti-climax after the game was shaping up to be an intense contest. Kusal Mendis' maiden ODI hundred took Sri Lanka to a formidable 311, but Taskin Ahmed's hat-trick in the last over capped off a fine last 10 overs for Bangladesh.
Taskin first had Asela Gunaratne caught at mid-off off the third ball of the final over. Suranga Lakmal was the next to go when he holed out to midwicket. Nuwan Pradeep, having the unenviable task of keeping out the hat-trick, was bowled off an inswinging yorker.
That meant Taskin was the fifth Bangladeshi after Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain and Taijul Islam to reach this milestone, which he celebrated with his typical spread-eagle celebration.
A win for Bangladesh would have given them their first bilateral ODI series win over Sri Lanka, but that was always going to be tough given no side had ever chased down over 300 to win in Sri Lanka.
That Bangladesh got into the game was thanks largely to a lower-order collapse from the hosts - they lost their last six wickets for 40 to end up at least 20 short of what they looked set to get. Mendis built the platform through two vital stands: 111 for the second wicket with Upul Tharanga and 83 for the third wicket with Dinesh Chandimal before the collapse.
Tharanga, playing in his 200th ODI, steadied Sri Lanka after they lost Danushka Gunathilaka in the third over. He struck Mehedi Hasan, the offspinner, for two fours in the eighth over before leaning into a beautiful cover drive off Mustafizur Rahman in the 10th over.
Mendis was scratchy to begin with, a healthy edge flying between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah at a wide slip position to reprieve him early on. Having scored just seven off his first 25 deliveries up until then, the boundary released the pressure. From there on, though, he was a different batsman.
The control with which he was batting resulted in Tharanga slipping into the role of an accumulator. The pair raised the century stand and looked good for more, but Bangladesh had a breakthrough in bizarre circumstances. Tharanga, trying to steal a run after Mushfiqur half-stopped a Mustafizur beamer, was run-out for 65 at the bowler's end through a direct hit from Mahmudullah at short fine leg in the 25th over.
Mendis hammered the next ball, a free-hit, for a six and then reached his fifty with a boundary off the fifth delivery. Mustafizur conceded 20 off the over, with Sri Lanka showing no signs of slowing down. He reached his century in the 36th over, thereby raising the possibility of hauling his side close to 330. But the dismissals of Chandimal and Mendis in successive overs set them back.
Mendis' dismissal - taken off the rebound by Taskin on his followthrough - left Sri Lanka at 216 for 4 in the 38th over. Milinda Siriwardana and Asela Gunaratne then patched things together with a 55-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Mehedi who dropped Siriwardana on 24 at midwicket had the last laugh when he bowled him in the next over. Gunaratne though continued to bring out his paddles and the big heaves to hit a 29-ball 39 to take Sri Lanka past 300 before Taskin took centrestage in the final over. However, rain had the final say.
1st ODI
Bangladesh 324/5 (50.0 ov)
Sri Lanka 234 (45.1 ov)
Bangladesh won by 90 runs
Bangladesh carried forward the momentum from their historic win in their 100th Test by making a rousing start to the three-match ODI series in Dambulla. Tamim Iqbal, with his eighth hundred, and Shakib Al Hasan fashioned their formidable score of 324 for 5 before a combined effort from the bowlers and fielders shut Sri Lanka out for 234 in 45.1 overs.
This was the first time Bangladesh had posted a 300-plus total away from home against a higher-ranked team, one that helped them cruise towards a win for most parts. Thisara Perera, coming in at No. 8, decided to upset them temporarily with a fifty off just 28 balls just when victory looked a foregone conclusion for the visitors. But the escalating asking rate resulted in big shots from the other batsmen, which eventually led to their downfall.
Bangladesh broke down their strategy into fine segments to not allow Sri Lanka even a whiff of an opportunity; not even when Dinesh Chandimal fought through to make a half-century and try set up a late surge. They needed someone, like Tamim, to bat through the innings, but kept losing wickets on the face of some disciplined bowling. The stranglehold was well and truly on 15 overs into the chase.
That Bangladesh could apply scorecard pressure was thanks to the 144-run stand between Tamim, the match's top-scorer with 127, and Shakib, who made a fire-and-ice 71-ball 72. Sabbir Rahman's half-century was equally important as it helped drive Bangladesh after the early loss of Soumya Sarkar.
He struck 10 fours before Upul Tharanga intercepted his powerful drive off Asela Gunaratne, in the 22nd over, to give Sri Lanka a reprieve. They had another strike when Mushfiqur Rahim was caught and bowled by Lakshan Sandakan in the next over. But Tamim and Shakib batted sensibly by only hitting boundaries when they were absolutely sure. During the course of his innings, Tamim became the first Bangladeshi to cross 10,000 international runs.
For a long time, Sri Lanka saw these two experienced batsmen restraining themselves until the last 10 overs. Of course poor fielding didn't help their cause. After their dismissals, Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah hammered 35 off 2.1 overs to finish with a flourish. Sri Lanka were further compounded by an injury to Suranga Lakmal right at the end which meant he couldn't complete his full quota.
Momentum remained with Bangladesh as Mashrafe Mortaza removed Danushka Gunathilaka off the third ball of the chase. Kusal Mendis fell to a miscued slog in the sixth over before Taskin Ahmed had Tharanga toe-end a pull to mid-on in the 11th over. Chandimal and Asela Gunaratne added 54 for the fourth wicket before the latter reverse swept a low catch to Mosaddek at point. By then, the asking rate had mounted over seven an over.
Chandimal reached his fifty off 62 balls and looked like the only batsman who comprehended the need of the hour. But in an attempt to up the run-rate, he top edged a sweep to Soumya at short fine-leg after making 59. It was the second wicket for debutant Mehedi Hasan, who had earlier picked up Mendis. Soon after the required run-rate crossed the 10-mark, Milinda Siriwardana struck Mustafizur for a straight six, the first of Sri Lanka's innings, but fell off the next delivery to a diving effort by Shuvagata Hom, substituting for Tamim, at deep square leg for 22.
Mashrafe, returning to his second spell, had a wicket off the first ball when Sachith Pathirana skied one to Mahmudullah at mid-off for 31. With Sri Lanka on 171 for 7, the game was all but over. Thisara though decided to play the way he knows and struck a belligerent half-century, his first in over two years, to keep Bangladesh on their toes. But on the night, Bangladesh's bowlers and fielders were too sharp for Sri Lanka.
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