With the help of superb batting by the new opening pair Mahela Jayawardne (108 runs of 117 balls) and Upul Tharnga (118* runs of 126 balls) Sri Lanka manage to chased down the target of 250 runs quite comfortably to beat Bangladesh by 9 wickets to became the first team to enter the triangular series final. With this loss Bangladesh is virtually out of the competition unless something dramatically happen for them. Bangladesh bowling looks ordinary right from the start as they have provided too many loose deliveries to the Sri Lankan openers. Mahela Jayawardne and Upul Tharanga took full advantage of same in the first power play. Both players went on to put record first wicket partnership of 215 runs against Bangladesh in just 227 balls. It was just matter of few runs to get when Sri Lankan captain joined other centurion Upul Tharanga at the crease. In the end Sri Lanka chase down the target with ease. Earlier Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakara won the toss and decided to have a bowl by considering the evening dew factors. Once again Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal (21 runs of 22 balls) and Imrul Kayes (42 runs of 54 balls) given their team solid start by putting on 44 runs for the first wicket. However once again Bangladesh batsman thrown their wickets away despite of getting good start, the middle order took time to consolidate. They still had wickets in hand to accelerate in the last ten overs, but despite saving the Powerplay almost till the end, couldn't seal the innings with a flourish. In the end they manage just 249/9 in their 50 overs which many thoughts was 30-40 runs short of what could have been better score. Now Sri Lanka will play against India on Sunday January 10, 2010, while Bangladesh will play India on January 11th 2010. Upul Tharanga was declared Player of the Match for his superb century. Match Summary (Sri Lanka won by 9 Wickets) Bangladesh– 249/9 in 50 Overs Shakib Al Hasan- 47 Raqibul Hasan- 43 N.Kulasekara- 10-1-48-2 T.Peera– 10-0-32-2 Sri Lanka – 252/1 in 42.5 Overs Upul Tharanga- 118* M.Jayawardne– 108 Naeem Islam– 5-0-35-1 Shakib Al Hasan- 8-2-27-0 |
