Twitter Reactions: Kusal Perera and bowlers script fitting ODI swansong for Lasith Malinga
There was no stopping Slinga Malinga in his last ODI appearance.
The first ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Colombo was Lasith Malinga’s last in the 50-overs format. The Islanders made it a memorable outing for the veteran, winning the encounter by 91 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. From a personal viewpoint, Lasith had a wonderful day as he finished with three wickets, showing the same accuracy he has been churning out throughout his career.
Perera stamps his authority
Chasing has been tricky at times at the venue and it wasn’t a surprise that the Lankans opted to bat first. The hosts lost Avishka Fernando early to Shafiul Islam, but skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (36) and Kusal Perera (111) put on 97 runs for the second wicket off 71 balls to set the tone for the rest of the innings. Mehidy Hasan got rid of Karunaratne to separate the duo, but Perera carried on.
The southpaw notched his fifth ODI ton in a mere 82 deliveries. He was well supported by Kusal Mendis (43). Angelo Mathews (48) and Lahiru Thirimanne (25) chipped in with handy knocks and guided Lanka to a decent score of 314. For the Tigers, Tamim Iqbal looked hapless in his maiden stint as the ODI skipper. Shafiul was the most successful among the bowlers with three wickets.
Tigers crumble under pressure
Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start as Malinga breathed fire to castle Tamim for a five-ball duck. Soumya Sarkar also fell prey to a lethal Yorker from the speedster. Nuwan Pradeep trapped Mohammad Mithun to open his account. Mahmudullah guided one straight down the throat of the third man off Lahiru Kumara. After 11.5 overs, the Tigers slumped to 39/4 and were in all sorts of trouble.
Thereafter, Mushfiqur Rahim (67) and Sabbir Rahman (60) steadied the ship with a 111-run stand. Just when the partnership was staging a comeback, Sabbir threw his wicket away to Dhananjaya de Silva. Then the visitors went down the barrel. Pradeep drilled the final nail in the coffin, getting rid of Rahim. Malinga ended his ODI career with Mustafizur Rahman’s wicket off the last ball of his quota.
Here is how Twitter lauded Malinga and Sri Lanka
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