Watch: Najmul Hossain Shanto scored his first hundred as ODI captain to take Bangladesh to victory in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Chattogram yesterday (March 13).
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Chasing a competitive score of 256, Bangladesh suffered an early collapse. Litton Das was cleaned up by Dilshan Madushanka off the first ball of the innings, before the left-arm seamer accounted for Soumya Sarkar and Towhid Hridoy in his next three overs.
At 23-3, Bangladesh were in trouble when the senior pro Mahmudullah joined Shanto at the crease. The two added 69 runs for the fourth wicket before Mahmudullah was dismissed by Lahiru Kumara for 37.
Mushfiqur Rahim came out to bat at No.6, and showed patience and maturity to score his 49th ODI half-century and remain unbeaten on 73 off 84 balls as Bangladesh won without losing any more wickets.
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At the other end, Shanto shepherded the chase, hitting 13 fours and two sixes en route to his third ODI hundred and first as captain. He remained unbeaten on 122 off 129 balls, his highest ODI score as Bangladesh won with more than five overs to spare.
Earlier in the game, Sri Lanka had started well. Avishka Fernando (33 off 33 balls) and Pathum Nissanka (36 off 28) added 71 for the first wicket before Kusal Mendis scored a half-century at No.3. Janith Liyanage’s 67 off 69, batting at No.6 took Sri Lanka past 250.
All three of Bangladesh’s frontline seamers picked three wickets each with Tanzim Hasan Sakib registering the best figures (3-44).
Sri Lanka won the T20I series 2-1. Bangladesh would like to make things even when they step on the field on March 15 for the second ODI.
