Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Third ODI
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sri Lanka :294/8 in 50 overs (Mathews 87, K. Mendis 54, Karunaratne 46; Soumya 3/56, Shafiul 3/68, Taijul 1/36)Bangladesh :172/10 in 36 overs (Soumya 69, Taijul 39*, Anamul 14; Shanaka 3/27, Rajitha 2/17, Kumara 2/26)Result : Sri Lanka won by 122 runs.
Player of the Match : Angelo Mathews.
The disappointing ODI series comes to an end for the Tigers as the hosts won the third and final match of the series by 122 runs at Colombo. Sri Lanka won the 3-match series by 3-0.
Earlier Sri Lanka opted to bat first after winning the toss. Bangladesh made two changes in the playing eleven from the last match. Anamul Haque and Rubel Hossain came in the side replacing Mosaddek Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.
Shafiul Islam gave the early breakthrough by dismissing Avishka Fernando on 6. Bangladesh bowlers maintained the pressure as Sri Lanka lost their third wicket for 98 in the 22nd overs. But then two half-centurion Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis 101-run stand revived the hosts innings. Mathews's 87 and Dasun Shanaka's quick-fire 30 help them posting a fighting total of 294 for 8 in 50 overs. Soumya Sarkar and Shafiul shared 3 wickets each.
In response, both opener Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque got out early which put the Tigers in trouble. Sri Lanka bowlers kept picking up wickets in regular interval as Bangladesh were reduced to 83 for 5. Soumya was the only batsman who showed some fight and scored and gusty knock of 69 but got little support from the other end. At the end Taijul Islam scored an unbeaten 39 which only reduced the defeat margin as Bangladesh were all out for 172 in 36 overs. Shanaka bagged 23 wickets for 27.
