Tigers' massive win against the Lankans

THISARA Perera unleashed a burst that was all-too-short, lashing Shakib for two fours and as many sixes in the 30th over, but fell later in the same over, caught at long-off attempting another ambitious stroke. That was precisely the end of Sri Lankan innings. The Tigers played too well with both bat and the ball in the match and thumped down their opponent Sri Lanka in a one-sided encounter on Friday. For many cricket lovers of Bangladesh it was a match between Bangladesh and its ex-coach Haturesinghe who took over as the Sri Lankan coach in a mysterious fashion. Tamim and Anamul began by putting on 71 for the first wicket, before Shakib joined Tamim for a 99-run stand. It laid a solid foundation as a 300-plus total looked imminent very early. Senior cricketers like Shakib, Tamim, Musfiq and Mashrafee all came with blazing guns to deliver them a 163-run win - their biggest victory margin in ODIs. Tamim, the highest scorer of the match, was slow at the beginning, but opened up after notching up a second successive fifty. He showed a particular liking for the short stuff dished out at him. Even getting struck on the helmet twice could not deter him. In all, he struck seven fours and two straight sixes, both off successive Gunaratne deliveries. It was a wretched performance from the Sri Lankans as they could post only 157 in 32.2 overs against a daunting Bangladesh total of 320 for 7. On the bowling front their bowlers could hardly trouble Bangladesh's batting line-up. Tamim Iqbal missed century and made 84 off 102 balls. Shakib struck an aggressive 67 and Mushfiqur Rahim scored a quick fire scoring 62. Accurate and intelligent bowling by Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hassan foiled any chances of a Sri Lankan recovery. We hope Bangladesh will continue to play well in the remaining matches and end the tri-nation series on a positive note.

Mohammed Sohel Hara

Bonosree, Dhaka

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