Nasir Hossain was the star for Bangladesh as he held his nerve and steered his team home against Sri Lanka. PHOTO: AFP
Nasir Hossain hit an unbeaten 33 under pressure as Bangladesh, chasing a rain-revised target of 183 off 27 overs, won the day-night match with six balls to spare in Pallekele to register their fourth ODI victory over Sri Lanka in 33 matches.
The tourists needed 17 to win off the last 12 deliveries, but Nasir eased the pressure when he smashed three fours in an over from seamer Thisara Perera before Sohag Gazi hit the winning boundary.
“It’s a huge win for us,” said Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim. “It was a challenge for us to do well against big teams, so I am very happy with the effort. We have not been in such situations before and that’s why the boys were panicking, but we pulled it off.”
Tillakaratne Dilshan earlier scored a 128-ball 125 to help Sri Lanka post a challenging 302 for nine in 50 overs. The in-form opener, who made an unbeaten 113 in the first match, hit 12 fours in his 16th one-day hundred.
“We were disappointed as we had runs on the board,” said Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews. “The bowling let us down today. We batted brilliantly even though we lost our way in the middle.”
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh now play a one-off Twenty20 International in Pallekele tomorrow.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ