Tillakaratne Dilshan started 2010 as if he was still playing in 2009, scoring a century, as he guided Sri Lanka to a dominant seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first tri-series One-Day International in Mirpur.
Former captain Mohammad Ashraful scored a half-century as Bangladesh recovered from 74 for four to set Sri Lanka 261 to win, Ashraful's 75 in 94 balls steering the home side to 260 for seven after they lost the toss and were invited to bat first by Sri Lanka.
Dilshan, who notched up ten international centuries last year, then scored 104 in 122 balls to ensure Sri Lanka were celebrating victory with 31 balls to spare. Sri Lanka did lose Upul Tharanga early on, caught behind by wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim off Rubel Hossain for 14 but Dilshan, who stroked 12 boundaries, added 148 with captain Kumar Sangakkara, who raced to 74 before also offering Rahim a catch behind, this time Shafiul Islam the bowler taking the wicket on debut.
Dilshan was the next man to fall, caught in the deep attempting to pull Mahmudullah to the boundary having faced 122 balls and taken his side to the brink of victory.
It was left to Thilan Samaraweera, unbeaten on 41, and Chamara Silva, unbeaten on four, to complete the job and they did so with relative ease.
Earlier, the decision to insert Bangladesh looked a poor decision when Tamim Iqbal (40) and Imrul Kayes (23) put on 65 for the first wicket but wickets quickly tumbled, Raqibul Hasan (0) and Shakib Al Hasan (1) falling victim to pacer Suranga Lakmal to leave Bangladesh in trouble in the 17th over.
Ashraful, however, was equal to the challenge, putting on 58 with Mushfiqur Rahim (35) for the fifth wicket and then 95 with Mahmudullah, who scored 45 in 47 balls as Bangladesh used the batting Power Play to good effect, Mahmudullah hitting three fours and a six and Naeem Islam thumping 22 in just nine balls after Ashraful had been run out by Kumar Sangakkara.
Off-spinner Suraj Randiv returned two for 51 by dismissing Rahim and Mahmudullah while Lakmal picked up two for 63.
Sri Lanka handed a recall to middle-order batsman Chamara Silva in the absence of Mahela Jayawardene while Bangladesh opted not to pick the likes of Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed or Alok Kapali, available again after breaking their ties with the Indian Cricket League, but they did hand a debut to pace bowler Shafiul Islam.
No comments:
Post a Comment