DAMBULLA: Opener Tamim Iqbal struck his eighth hundred and shared a 144-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan to set up a comprehensive 90-run win for Bangladesh over Sri Lanka in the first One-day International at Dambulla on Saturday (partly reported in Sunday’s edition).

Left-hander Tamim hit a 142-ball 127 while all-rounder Shakib scored a brisk 72 off 71 deliveries to help Bangladesh post 324-5 in their 50 overs after the hosts won the toss and put them in to bat.

Sri Lanka were never up to the task, being derailed very early on after skipper Mashrafe Mortaza struck in the first over and then ODI debutant Mehedi Hasan left them struggling at 15-2 inside six overs.

They were finally dismissed for 234 in 45.1 overs to suffer their fifth loss against Bangladesh in 39 meetings.

The hosts are now trail 0-1 in a three-match series.

Dinesh Chandimal made the highest score of 59 for the inexperienced home side with left arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman finishing with 3-56 runs for Bangladesh.

Thisara Perera made a quickfire 55 off 31 balls coming to bat at eight. He hit Mashrafe two fours and a six to please the crowd in the 40th over but it was a case of too little too late to change the course of the game.

Earlier, Tamim, who also reached a personal milestone by becoming the first Bangladeshi to complete 10,000 international runs, led the batting charge throughout the innings until he fell to Lahiru Kumara in the 48th over.

“Batting till the 45th over is not easy, lot of sweat goes down,” man-of-the-match Tamim said after the game. “We just kept our cool and kept rotating the strike. The way Shakib played was exceptional. “I knew if I scored 135 or so, we could get to 300. That is what I tried to do.”

Sri Lanka captain Upul Tharanga blamed their poor bowling for the defeat.

“I think we controlled the middle period very well. But we bowled very badly and on the field also we gave around 25-30 runs extra,” he said.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Gunathilaka b Kumara 127 Soumya Sarkar c Chandimal b Lakmal 10 Sabbir Rahman c Tharanga b Gunaratne 54 Mushfiqur Rahim c and b Sandakan 1 Shakib Al Hasan c Sandakan b Lakmal 72 Mosaddek Hossain not out 24 Mahmudullah not out 11

EXTRAS (LB-10, W-13) 23

TOTAL (for five wkts, 50 overs) 324

FALL OF WKTS: 1-29, 2-119, 3-120, 4-264, 5-289.

DID NOT BAT: Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.

BOWLING: Lakmal 8-0-45-2; Kumara 8-0-74-1 (3w); Perera 8-0-63-0; Pathirana 5-0-27-0 (6w); Sandakan 8-0-43-1 (3w); Gunaratne 10-0-40-1 (1w); Gunathilaka 3-0-22-0.

SRI LANKA:

M.D. Gunathilaka lbw b Mashrafe 0 W.U. Tharanga c Mashrafe b Taskin 19 B.K.G. Mendis c Sub b Mehedi 4 L.D. Chandimal c Soumya b Mehedi 59 D.A.S. Gunaratne c Mosaddek b Shakib 24 T.A.M. Siriwardana c Sub b Mustafizur 22 S.S. Pathirana c Mahmudullah b Mashrafe 31 N.L.T.C. Perera c Mahmudullah b Mustafizur 55 R.A.S. Lakmal c Sabbir b Mustafizur 8 P.A.D.L.R. Sandakan run out 3 C.B.R.L.S. Kumara not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4) 9

TOTAL (all out, 45.1 overs) 234

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-15, 3-31, 4-87, 5-121, 6-153, 7-171, 8-208, 9-232.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 7-2-35-2; Mehedi Hasan 10-0-43-2; Taskin Ahmed 9-0-41-1 (2w); Shakib Al Hasan 8-0-33-1 (1w); Mustafizur Rahman 8.1-0-56-3 (1w); Mosaddek Hossain 3-0-21-0.

RESULT: Bangladesh won by 90 runs to lead three-match series 1-0.

UMPIRES: R.S.A. Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka) and M.A. Gough (England).

TV UMPIRE: S. Ravi (India).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Tamim Iqbal.

SECOND MATCH: Dambulla (D/N), Tuesday.

THIRD MATCH: Colombo (SSC), Saturday.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2017