SL v BAN, 1st ODI Review: Bangladesh take their merry run to the ODIs as well

After their epic win in their historic centenary Test match, Bangladesh switched to the ODI format against the hosts Sri Lanka. The first ODI was played in Dambulla where Bangladesh scored a massive 324 batting first courtesy a classy hundred from Tamim Iqbal. Their bowlers did the rest and a truly professional performance gave them a victory by 90 runs.

Sri Lanka won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first who made a quickfire start with Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar hitting a few boundaries to take the score to 25 after 4 overs. Suranga Lakmal drew first blood in the 5th over when he got Sarkar out caught at the hands of Dinesh Chandimal for 10 runs. Sabbir Rehman walked in to join Tamim in the center and the due focussed on building a partnership.

They tackled the new ball beautifully and took full advantage of the mandatory fielding restrictions of 10 overs. At the end of the first powerplay, they took the score to 64/1 ensuring no further loss. They brought up their fifty runs partnership in the 13th over and kept building on the momentum even after that. Sabbir got to his fifty in the 20th over but got out soon courtesy a stunning catch from Tharanga but not before adding 90 runs for the second wicket.

Mushfiqur Rahim joined in at number 4 but did not last too long as he was caught by Sandakan off his bowling in the 23rd over. At 120/3, Tamim needed someone to stay with him and Shakib Al Hasan answered the call. Tamim reached his 35th ODI fifty off 77 balls in the 26th over. The two lefties concentrated on rotating the strike midway through the innings and waited for the loose ball to score the boundaries. The score reached a healthy 215/3 after 40 overs.

Tamim then notched up his 8th ODI ton in the 43rd over and laid the platform for a huge score. Shakib too got to his fifty in the next over and put the foot on the accelerator when he smashed 3 boundaries in a row to Lahiru Kumara. In the pursuit of quick runs, he lost his wicket to Lakmal in the 46th over as he went back for a well made 72 off 71 balls. Tamim too joined in to up the ante and hit some handsome boundaries.

He too perished while looking for the big shots. He scored a magnificent 127 off 142 balls with 15 fours and a six. The late cameos from Mosaddek and Mahmudullah helped them post a massive total of 324/5 at the end of their 50 overs with 109 runs scored in the last 10 overs. It was a wonderful effort and another sign of Bangladesh’s growth in international cricket. Sri Lankan batsmen had their works cut out to get anywhere close to the target.

In reply, they got off to the worst possible start when Danushka Gunathilaka was trapped in front of the wickets off the third ball of the innings by Mashrafe Mortaza. He went back without troubling the scorers. It went from bad to worse when Kusal Mendis skied one straight into the hands of the deep mid-wicket fielder as Mehedi Hasan grabbed his first wicket in the ODIs. They were left suffering at 15/2 after 6 overs.

They lost another when the other opener Upul Tharanga mistimed a pull shot to the mid on fielder and Taskin Ahmed had a wicket in his very first over. Sri Lanka were in a spot of bother at 31/3 after 11 overs and were in desperate need of a partnership. Dinesh Chandimal and Asela Gunaratne combined well for the fourth wicket and added 56 runs before Gunaratne was picked up by Shakib in the 24th over.

The required run rate kept jumping up and the scoreboard pressure started to tell on the batsmen. Chandimal was the next to go when Mehedi got his second wicket in the 29th over. He made 59 off 70 balls with 6 boundaries and was the only batsman who showed some resistance In the 34th over, they lost their 6th wicket in the form of Siriwardana courtesy the Fizz. Pathirana and Lakmal too went back in quick successions as they were down to 208/8 in the 49th over.

Thisara Perera was fighting the lone battle as he hit some lusty blows out of the park. He scored 55 off 35 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes which was his first fifty in ODIs in 27 months. But it turned out to be too little too late as the side was bowled out for 234 with 29 balls to spare. Bangladesh won the match comprehensively by 90 runs to go one up in the 3-ODI series.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh – 324/5 in 50 overs (Tamim 127, Shakib 72, Lakmal 2/45)

Sri Lanka – 234/10 in 50 overs (Chandimal 59, Perera 55, Mortaza 2/35)