0
COLOMBO, Aug 7: Bangladesh crashed to their 50th defeat in 53 One-day Internationals when they lost to Sri Lanka by 58 runs in the third and final match here Wednesday.
Sri Lanka dismissed Bangladesh for 200 after scoring a challenging 258-6 to complete a 3-0 sweep. They had won the first one-dayer by five wickets and the second by eight.
Bangladesh’s three wins since making their one-day debut in 1986 have come against Kenya (1998), Scotland (1999) and Pakistan (1999).
Habibul Bashar defied the Sri Lankan attack as he scored a solid 52 for his fifth half-century, sharing a 65-run stand for the fifth wicket with skipper Khaled Mashud (37). Khaled Mahmud contributed 39 late in the innings.
Ace Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (3-24) and newcomer Pulasthi Gunaratne (2-39) did the maximum damage.
Sri Lanka were indebted to Man-of-the-Match Russel Arnold (62) and Tillekeratne Dilshan (50) for posting a respectable total on a slow pitch after being put in to bat at the Premadasa Stadium.
Sri Lanka, who rested skipper Sanath Jayasuriya along with strike bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando, were struggling at 115-4 before Dilshan and Arnold propped up the innings with a 100-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Arnold struck four boundaries in his 64-ball knock and Dilshan five in his 63-ball innings as the hosts scored 101 in the last 15 overs.
Fast bowler Gunaratne then pressed home the advantage with two wickets off successive balls in his first match to end a brief flourish by the top-order Bangladeshi batsmen.
Opener Al Shahriar smashed five fours, including three in a row off seamer Chamila Gamage, in his 13-ball 20 as the tourists raced to 45 off just seven overs.
Gamage, however, had the last laugh when he removed Shahriar in his second over.
The tourists then slipped from 45-1 to 48-4 as the top-order batsmen played one shot too many against a disciplined Sri Lankan attack.
The top-order Sri Lankan batsmen also struggled to force the pace against tight Bangladeshi bowling.
Aravinda de Silva (46), Kumar Sangakkara (22) and stand-in captain Marvan Atapattu (20) all failed to capitalise on good starts before Arnold and Dilshan stepped up the run-rate.
SRI LANKA:
M.S. Atapattu c Mahmud b Baisya 20
P.A. de Silva c Kapali b Mahmud 46
K.C. Sangakkara b Manjural 22
M. Jayawardena c Mashud b Mahmud 16
R.P. Arnold c Mashud b Mahmud 62
T.M. Dilshan c Rafique b Ashraful 50
K.H.R.K. Fernando not out 23
U.D.U. Chandana not out 4
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-7, NB-6) 15
TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 258
FALL OF WKTS: 1-39, 2-82, 3-114, 4-115, 5-215, 6-248.
DID NOT BAT: P.W. Gunaratne, C. Gamage, M. Muralitharan.
BOWLING: Manjural Islam 10-0-42-1 (3nb, 1w); Tapash Baisya 7-0-41-0 (3nb, 1w); Khaled Mahmud 10-0-51-3 (1w); Mohammad Rafique 10-1-32-0 (1w); Alok Kapali 6-0-36-0 (1w); Habibul Bashar 2-0-20-0 (1w); Mohammad Ashraful 5-0-34-1 (1w).
BANGLADESH:
Hannan Sarkar lbw b Gunaratne 14
M. Al-Shahriar c Dilshan b Gamage 20
M. Ashraful c Chandana b Fernando 10
H. Bashar c Dilshan b Muralitharan 52
T. Imran b Gunaratne 0
K. Mashud run out 37
A. Kopali lbw b Chandana 8
K. Mahmud b Muralitharan 39
M. Rafique b Arnold 13
T. Baisya lbw b Muralitharan 3
M. Islam not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-2) 4
TOTAL (all out, 47.2 overs) 200
FALL OF WKTS: 1-27, 2-45, 3-48, 4-48, 5-113, 6-132, 7-165, 8-184, 9-189.
BOWLING: Gunaratne 9-0-39-2 (1w); Gamage 7-0-43-1; Fernando 8-1-18-1 (1w); Muralitharan 9.2-1-24-3 (1w); Chandana 9-0-45-1; Arnold 5-0-30-1.
RESULT: Sri Lanka won by 58 runs.
UMPIRES: P.T. Manuel (Sri Lanka) and S.A. Bucknor (West Indies).
TV UMPIRE: T.H. Wijewardena.
MATCH REFEREE: Wasim Raja (Pakistan).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Russel Arnold.
MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Khaled Mashud.
FIRST MATCH: SSC, Colombo — Sri Lanka won by five wickets.
SECOND MATCH: SSC, Colombo — Sri Lanka won by eight wickets.—AFP/Reuters
