Here is how the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League points table looks like after BANvSL 2nd ODI

For the second game in a row, Mushfiqur Rahim bulwarked Bangladesh from succumbing to a below-par total, scoring a sensational 125 when the second highest scorer in the team got 41. The script of the second ODI was strikingly similar to the first one, keeping aside the rain interruptions and the couple of changes that hosts made by bringing Shoriful Islam and Mosaddek Hossain at the expense of Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Mithun.

Opting to bat after calling correctly, Bangladesh found itself 15/2 with both Tamim Iqbal and Shakib al Hasan, who fell for a duck, back in the hut inside the first couple of overs courtesy of Dushmantha Chameera. Even as Liton Das and Rahim tried to rebuild, the Sri Lankan bowlers ensured to give away runs as stingily as possible. Another couple of quick strikes from Lakshan Sandakan ended Das and Hossain’s outing to once again leave everything hanging on the two protectors from the first game – Rahim and Mahmudullah.

Mushfiqur stands tall again

Their 87-run stand for the fifth wicket steadied Bangladesh with Mahmudullah getting 41 from 58, however, Sandakan got him caught behind in the 34th over to dent ant hopes that he might have had to accelerate towards the end of the innings. It came down to Rahim taking the entire burden of adding runs in the end, as he found little to no support from Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, and Mohammad Saifuddin.

Notching up his 8th ODI ton after falling short of it by 16 runs a couple of days ago, Rahim smashed 10 fours in his 125-run knock that came off 127 balls, before Dushmantha Chameera removed him. A couple of rain breaks broke Bangladesh’s momentum in the death overs, however, guided by Rahim’s knocks, they managed a total that would prove too tall to chase for their opponents.

Sri Lanka’s misery continues

Out in pursuit of 247 on a sluggish track, the visitors never looked in contention of the chase, while Bangladesh was spot on in not allowing any of their batters to add more than 29 for any wicket with Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur doing the most damage. The duo bagged 6 wickets amongst themselves, while Shakib chipped in with 2.

Every single batter from the Sri Lankan top-order got a start but failed to execute and build upon it to hold the team in what should have been a simple chase. Danushka Gunathilaka stuck in the middle for 46 balls, getting 24, while Pathum Nissanka, at three, got 20 from 36. But plagued by regularly falling wickets, Sri Lanka ran out of gas much sooner than one would have expected after their bowlers did a reasonable job. Sri Lanka was nine down with 112 runs left to be chased in 12 overs when another rain interruption delayed the inevitable as the hosts won the game by 103 runs (D/L method) to clinch the series and jump to the top of the ODI Super League points table.

Here is the updated ICC ODI Super League Points Table