Tri-series: Lankans reach final with Tigers shameful 10 wkt loss
NTV Online
Sri Lanka confirmed their final berth in the Tri-nation series with a stunning 10-wicket victory against host Bangladesh in the 6th match of the series at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday.
Both sides will play the final taking on each other at the same venue, starting at 12 pm on Saturday, reports the UNB.
Bangladesh confirmed their final berth earlier collecting 15 points from four matches with three successive wins before day’s loss while Sri Lanka collected nine points from four outings having two wins with the day’s victory.
The Lankans chased down a silly target of 83 runs with their unbeaten opening stand between Danushka Gunathilaka (35 off 35b; 3x4; 2x6) and Upul Tharanga (39 off 37b; 1x4; 3x6) who shared an innings of 11.5 overs.
The Tigers were all out with their 9th lowest ODI aggregate of 82 when they batted first after winning the toss against visiting Sri Lanka.
Number 4-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim (26 off 56b; 1x4) and number-7 Sabbir Rahman (10 off 12b; 2x4) were the double digit scorers in their 24 overs innings.
Man of the match Suranga Lakmal (3/21 in 7 overs) debacle the Bangladesh top order while Thisara Perera (2/27 in 6 overs) struck blows in the middle before Dushmantha Chameera (2/6 in 5 overs) and Lakshan Sandakan (2/24 in 6 overs) wiped out the tail ender.
Sri Lankans were sharp in the fielding and confidently down the target in 11.5 overs. The game took only 3 hours and 11 minutes, including innings break, to see two innings of 35.5 overs.
The Tigers secured a record 163-run victory against Sri Lanka only six days ago, having 320/7 in 50 overs but on Thursday Sri Lanka found bowling dream sequence.
This is the 3rd time Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets, after February 2003 in South Africa and in July 2004 in Sri Lanka.
With the day’s win Sri Lanka maintained their record of not losing in two successive ODI against Bangladesh.
In their 43 ODI encounters, Bangladesh secured only six wins against 35 losses against Sri Lanka. Two matches were ended in no results.