Lanka flatten faltering Bangla

Now the Lankans can make a genuine charge towards the final with two matches remaining, but Bangladesh's hopes of entering the title round were all but over after this setback.

Sadeera Samarawickrama’s innings of class and substance was complemented by a fine bowling display to power Sri Lanka to a 21-run win over a faltering Bangladesh at the R Premadasa stadium on Saturday. 

It is not a loss Bangladesh would digest easily for they were in the chase comfortably in their pursuit of 258, and now they have pushed themselves into a corner where they are most likely to crash out of the tournament with a poor outing, should that be the case in their next game. 

 At 181 for 5, Towhead Hridoy’s 82 kept them comfortably in the hunt but Maheesh Theekshana’s two-wicket burst was enough to put an end to the resistance, or at least most of it. There were the tailenders but they, obviously, couldn’t hold off Sri Lanka’s exceptionally stringent bowling attack. 

But, this game was always about Sri Lanka’s batters, and just how aesthetic they were against a quality Bangladesh bowling line-up. Bangladeshi bowlers were peculiarly consistent but they could not breach the Sri Lankan walls as easily. 

They faced that problem with opener Pathum Nissanka (40) and to a large degree with Kusal Mendis (50), but the real push for Sri Lanka came in the shape of Samarawickrama. 

That 72-ball 93 was a work of art, to say the least. With wrists so malleable, he was able to play the gaps without ever stressing over the timing for that came too naturally to him. Also, he showed special application when the balls were dropped short, better yet, he was able to place nearly every pull off the toes in the gaps.

It was just one of those days, and in that sense, it was unfortunate that he wasn’t able to put up his maiden ODI century, but he wouldn’t mind for he powered Sri Lanka to a win. Given their state of affairs, the team’s success would mean more to the 28-year-old than his individual accolades.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka: 257/9 in 50 overs (Pathum Nissanka 40, Kusal Mendis 50, Sadeera Samarawickrama 93; Taskin Ahmed 3-62, Shoriful Islam 2-48, Hasan Mahmud 3-57) bt Bangladesh: 236 all out in 48.1 overs (Maheesh Theekshana 3-69, Dasun Shanaka 3-28, Matheesha Pathirana 3-58). Result: SL won by 21 runs. PoM: Sadeera Samarawickrama.