Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2019: Lasith Malinga’s ODI career ends with a commanding win over Bangladesh
Sri Lanka gave a perfect farewell to Lasith Malinga as they defeated Bangladesh by 91 runs in the first ODI played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Friday.
Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first. The decision didn't reap immediate rewards though as Avishka Fernando was dismissed cheaply for 7.
Kusal Perera and Karunaratne himself then played with positive intent and put pressure on the Bangladeshi bowlers. By the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka had raced towards 77 for 1.
After the power play, Perera continued his aggressive stroke-play and reached his fifty off 38 balls. Just as things started looking dangerous for Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz got the breakthrough, dismissing Karunaratne for 36. The captain and Perera had added 97 runs for the second wicket.
Kusal Mendis then came to the crease and continued Sri Lanka’s dominance. At the other end Perera reached his 5th ODI century, off just 82 balls. Soumya Sarkar eventually got the big wicket of Perera for 111 to end the 100-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Mendis fell soon after that for a well-made 43.
Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne then added 60 runs for the 5th wicket, and Sri Lanka ended with 314 for 8 at the end of 50 overs. For Bangladesh, Shafiul Islam took 3 for 62 while Mustafizur Rahman took 2 for 75.
Chasing the target of 315, the visitors got off to a disastrous start as Malinga bowled a brilliant yorker to dismiss Tamim Iqbal for 0 in the very first over. Mohammad Mithun and Sarkar then played some lovely strokes before Malinga struck again to dismiss the latter for 15.
At the end of 10 overs, Bangladesh were struggling at 36 for 3.
After the power play, Lahiru Kumara got the wicket of Mahmudullah to throw the batting lineup into disarray at 39 for 4. But Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman steadied the ship with some intelligent batting. Rahman was aggressive right from word go and reached his fifty off 42 balls.
Before any more damage could be done though, Dhanjaya de Silva got the breakthrough, dismissing Rahman for 60. He and Rahim had added 111 runs for the 5th wicket.
Rahim continued to march along and reached his fifty off 61 balls while wickets kept falling at the other end. Nuwan Pradeep eventually dismissed Rahim for 67 to end Bangladesh's hopes of winning the match.
Malinga fashioned a fitting end as he picked the final wicket, that of Mustafizur Rahman, to bowl out Bangladesh for 223. For Sri Lanka, Pradeep and Malinga took 3 wickets each.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 314 for 8 in 50 overs (Kusal Perera 111, Shaiful Islam 3/62, Mustafizur Rahman 2/75) beat Bangladesh 223 in 41.4 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 67, Sabbir Rahman 60, Lasith Malinga 3/38, Nuwan Pradeep 3/51) by 91 runs.