CHITTAGONG: Sri Lanka are fired up to fight against rivals Bangladesh in their strongest format when their One-day International series begins this week, coach Chris Silverwood said on Tuesday.

The current tour has seen both teams needling each other over the first timed-out dismissal in the 146-year history of international cricket during their World Cup clash in India last year.

Sri Lanka brought up the incident after clinching the tour’s Twenty20 International series on Saturday, prompting Bangladesh to accuse their opponents of failing to move on.

“The rivalry is obviously great. I think we need good competition,” Silverwood told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s opener in Chittagong.

“We’re going to play some competitive cricket. I expect exactly the same again... And obviously both teams will be looking for the same, I should imagine.”

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first player in the history of international cricket to be timed out during the World Cup match against Bangladesh in Delhi.

Mathews was declared out after he failed to take strike within the stipulated time of two minutes. He attempted to argue he had a problem with his helmet strap but the umpires upheld the decision when Bangladesh chose not to withdraw their appeal.

Sri Lanka reignited the row over Mathews’ dismissal after celebrating by pointing to their wrists after winning the third and final T20 match.

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto reacted by saying the tourists “haven’t moved on from the timed-out incident” and were “in a frenzy about it”.

The match also saw Bangladesh batsman Towhid Hridoy fined 15 percent of his match fees for remonstrating “aggressively and inappropriately” with Sri Lankan players after he was dismissed, according to an International Cricket Council statement.

Bangladesh has traditionally prospered in 50-over matches and were undefeated at home in the format for seven years until 2023, when they lost against both England and Afghanistan.

Najmul said his men were expecting to return to form against Sri Lanka, whom they beat 2-1 during their last ODI series encounter in 2021.

“We played very good cricket from 2015 to 2022. So it can be a bad year. But it’s important to bounce back as a team and come back well this year,” he said.

The second and third matches in the series will be held on March 15 and 18.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2024