Twitter Reactions: Sri Lanka inflict Bangladesh with a dominating series whitewash

Before the start of the series against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh lost three of their players in Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das and Mohammad Saifuddin due to various reasons. The depleted team couldn’t put up any sort of fight and lost the series 3-0. Tamim Iqbal and Co lost the third ODI in Colombo by 122 runs. While it was the visitors’ second whitewash in 2019, Lanka cleanswept a team after 44 months.

Mathews guides the Lankans

After electing to bat first, the hosts didn’t make a great start as Shafiul Islam trapped Avishka Fernando in front. But Dimuth Karunaratne (46) and Kusal Perera (42) steadied the ship with a 83-run stand. Taijul Islam broke the stand, dismissing Karunaratne and in the very next over, Rubel Hossain found Perera’s outside edge. Kusal Mendis (54) and Angelo Mathews (87) then took charge.

The duo put on 101 for the fourth wicket and set the platform for a final flourish. Soumya Sarkar got rid of Mendis, but Dasun Shanaka (30) injected momentum into the innings. Mathews got to his second fifty of the series in 69 balls. In the last 10 overs, Lanka got 106 runs. For the Tigers, Sarkar and Shafiul were the most successful with three wickets each. Lanka finished with 294 in 50 overs.

Sarkar wages a lone battle at the R Premadasa 

Tamim Iqbal’s horror run continued and he fell prey to Kasun Rajitha, who nipped out the other opener- Anamul Haque Bijoy- as well. Mushfiqur Rahim succumbed to a rare failure as he became Shanaka’s first victim. Mohammad Mithun was demoted and the move didn’t work as Shanaka removed him cheaply. Mahmudullah perished for his third consecutive single-digit score in ODIs.

Shanaka accounted for the right-hander’s wicket. Even Lahiru Kumara joined the party picking up the wickets of Sabbir Rahman and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. At the other end, Soumya Sarkar (69) held one end up. He got to his fifty off 61 balls, but it was never going to be enough as he got no support. Taijul Islam (39) wielded his willow to good effect and Bangladesh eventually folded for 172 in 36 overs.

Here is how Twitter lauded Sri Lanka for their show