DAMBULLA: Heavy rain washed out the second One-day International of a three-match series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh here on Tuesday.
Bangladesh could not start their innings due to the downpour after bowling out Sri Lanka for 311 runs in 49.5 overs.
Kusal Mendis struck his maiden century before Taskin Ahmed claimed a hat-trick as Sri Lanka posted a big total.
Needing a win to stay alive in the three-match series, Mendis laid the foundation for a strong total for Sri Lanka with 102 off 107 before Taskin’s late burst halted their progress at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
Taskin took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Mendis. Then he removed Asela Gunuratne (39), Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep in the final over to complete his hat-trick as the fifth Bangladeshi bowler.
He finished with 4-47 giving Bangladesh a ray of hope after Sri Lanka dominated the visiting bowlers initially, having elected to bat first.
Mashrafe Mortaza took opener Danushka Gunathilaka early for nine but Mendis shared 111 runs with skipper Upul Tharanga for the second wicket to put Sri Lanka in a strong position.
A direct hit from Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh separate the duo as Tharanga was run out for 65, trying to complete a single off a no-ball off Mustafizur Rahman.
Mendis struck a six and a four in the next two balls to complete his fifty before racing to his century in 102 balls with a single off Mortaza.
He also shared 83 runs for the third wicket with Dinesh Chandimal, who chipped in with 24 runs.
Milinda Siriwardana also made a useful contribution with 30 runs.
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA:
Gunathilaka c Mushfiqur b Mortaza 9
U. Tharanga run out 65
K. Mendis c & b Taskin 102
D. Chandimal lbw b Mustafizur 24
A. Gunaratne c Soumya b Taskin 39
M. Siriwardana b Mehedi 30
T. Perera run out 9
D. Perera run out 9
N. Kulasekara not out 2
S. Lakmal c Mustafizur b Taskin 0
N. Pradeep b Taskin 0
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-10, W-7, NB-1) 22
TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs) 311
FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-129, 3-212, 4-216, 5-271, 6-280, 7-300, 8-311, 9-311.
BOWLING: Mortaza 10-1-55-1 (2w); Mehedi 10-0-50-1; Mustafizur
8-0-60-1 (1nb, 2w); Taskin 8.5-0-47-4; Shakib 10-0-59-0 (3w); Mosaddek 3-0-26-0.
UMPIRES: Ranmore Martinesz (Sri Lanka), Sundaram Ravi (India)
TV UMPIRE: Michael Gough (England)
MATCH REFEREE: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe).
Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2017
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