Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2017: 1st ODI, 5 Talking Points
Bangladesh drew first blood in the ODI series by demolishing the hosts Sri Lanka by 90 runs at the Dambulla stadium tonight. Batting first, the visitors piled 324 on the board courtesy a fine hundred from Tamim Iqbal and a half-century from Shakib Al Hasan.
No team had ever chased 300+ in an ODI in Lanka and the record remained intact as the hosts fell short by 90 runs. They lost their top three by the time they had 31 on the board and although Dinesh Chandimal lifted them up with a half-century, the game was done and dusted by then.
Thisara Perera, in his comeback match, played a few fancy strokes to race to a half-century but the target was too far away. Mehedi Hasan, on his ODI debut, opened the attack and did a fine job with the new ball before returning to nip out the well settled Chandimal.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 324/5 ( Tamim 127, Shakib 72, Lakmal 2/45) beat Sri Lanka 234 in 45.1 overs (Chandimal 59, Perera 55, Mustafizur 3/56)
Here are the talking points from the first ODI at Dambulla.
#5 Tamim Iqbal's uncharacteristic knock
Bangladesh were on a high after levelling the Test series and Tamim Iqbal sent the team's fans into a frenzy by notching up a hundred and helping his side to a 300+ total. The left-handed opener was unusually watchful and took more than 110 balls to reach his century.
That said, Tamim was typically aggressive during an entertaining 90-run stand with Sabbir Rahman but as he approached his hundred, he slowed down. His 144-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan all but sealed the game for the visitors.
He flayed the Lankan bowlers to all parts of the fence, smacking 15 fours and a six, nearly batting through the innings. While he took 142 balls for his 127, he displayed admirable character to stay almost until the end.