An all-round show from Shakib Al Hasan thrust Bangladesh to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the World Cup match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Shakib returned figures of 2 for 57 before scoring 82 off 65 balls in a 280-run chase that his side pulled off with 8.5 overs to spare. It was Bangladesh’s first win in ODI World Cups over Sri Lanka, a result which eliminated Kusal Mendis’s team from the tournament.
In an eventful match played in the midst of severe air pollution in Delhi, Charith Asalanka scored his second ODI hundred and Angelo Mathews became the first player to be ‘timed out’ in international cricket.
Chasing a par score under lights and in presence of some dew, Tanzid Hasan got the innings off to a positive start with back-to-back boundaries against Dilshan Madushanka. The left-arm seamer, though, struck back to send both the openers packing. Hasan miscued a drive to cover whereas his batting partner Litton Das, who was dropped on 6 by Kusal Perera, was pinned on the boot.
Najmul Hossain Shanto (90) and Shakib then added a steady 169 runs for the third wicket, the first century stand for Bangladesh in this World Cup that basically set up the successful run-chase. Shakib, when on 8, was dropped by Asalanka, a reprieve that cost Sri Lanka dearly. In the over after that drop, Shakib hit a six and four off Dushmantha Chameera to get going and set an early marker for the partnership, sweeping and driving his way to a 47-ball fifty, his first in the tournament.
Shanto played more steadily out of the two, scoring his fifty off 58 balls as the duo managed a boundary almost every over to keep the required run-rate in check. Shakib eventually fell to Mathews, popping up a leading edge that was caught by Asalanka this time around. Mathews went on to pick Shanto in his next over and Madushanka’s strike of Mushfiqur Rahim then set the cat among the pigeons. But Mahmudullah’s 22 off 23 and Towhid Hridoy’s 15* off 7 helped Bangladesh over the line.
After opting to bowl earlier in the day, Bangladesh hit the right notes from the get go when wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim completed a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss the returning Kusal Perera in the first over. Shoriful Islam’s next over though wasn’t so successful though, with Pathum Nissanka hitting three boundaries and setting the base for his steady 61-run stand with Kusal Mendis.
Both batters however fell in quick succession. Mendis, who struggled for timing and took 14 balls to get off the mark, hit a six, his first in his last six innings after a whirlwind start to the tournament, before holing out to long-on. It took Shakib Al Hasan all of three balls on the day to pick his first wicket. Pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib then followed up in the next over and had Nissanka bowled for 41 off 36 balls, giving Bangladesh some control back.
That led Sri Lanka to another period of recovery through a 63-run stand for the fourth wicket between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka. Samarawickrama scored at run a ball, hitting four boundaries, before falling prey to Shakib’s flight again and holing out to deep midwicket. But what happened thereafter divided opinions.
In the 25th over, Mathews was readying to take strike when his helmet strap broke. He gestured to the dugout for a new helmet but didn’t consult with Shakib Al Hasan, the opposition captain, who went on to successfully appeal for “timed out” to on-field umpires.
In the meantime, Asalanka got to his fifty off 56 balls, keeping the scoreboard ticking amidst fall of wickets at the other end. His 78-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva helped Sri Lanka get their bearing back even as Mathews led intense discussions in the dugout about his dismissal.
De Silva, scored 34 off 36 but failed to get to the pitch of a delivery after stepping out and was stumped off Mehidy Hasan’s bowling. Asalanka thereafter continued to pick the odd boundary and got to his hundred off 101 balls in the 48th over. It was the ninth hundred scored at the venue, the most in this World Cup.
Maheesh Theekshana added 22 important runs but once Asalanka was caught in the deep off Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Sri Lanka went on to lose their last three wickets for 1 run and were bowled out with three balls remaining in the innings.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 279 in 49.3 overs (Asalanka 108, Nissanka 41; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 3-80) lost to Bangladesh 282/7 in 41.1 overs (shanto 90, Shakib 82; Madushanka 3-69) by 3 wickets
