Bangladesh roared back in the ODI series by winning a nervy second ODI by 16 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Co-incidentally, it is their first win in 12 games on this venue as they rewrote history books. While the Bangladeshi Tigers rejoiced, Sri Lanka were left with to rue what might have been. They had their chances throughout the game but faltered when it really mattered as Bangladesh held their nerves. There were several reasons for the hosts going down yesterday. We will give you three of them.
Inability to take the last Bangladesh wicket quickly
It was Bangladesh’s turn this time to win the toss and elect to bat first. They batted well but Sri Lanka to their credit never allowed Bangladesh to get away. They chipped away at wickets at regular intervals and did not allow Bangladesh to get breathing space. There were half-centuries for Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy while Shamim Hossain and Jaker Ali made 20s. But Sri Lanka had Bangladesh on the ropes at 218/9 in 41.5 overs.
Bangladesh were in danger of not batting full 50 overs and did not but they did not fold away quickly as well. Sri Lanka fancied of restricting Bangladesh to somewhere around 230 but that did not happen as Tanzim Hasan Sakib scored a useful unbeaten 33 off 21 balls and added 30 for the last wicket with last man Mustafizur Rahman who was dismissed for 0 in the end.
Those 30 runs came back to bite them as Sri Lanka lost by only 16 runs. The bowlers did a fine job and 249 should have been chased, but when the team was down and out even a small stand of 30 can make a difference on a challenging surface.
Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis failing to convert their starts amidst the top and middle order failure
In the chase, Sri Lanka lost their two openers relatively early while Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis got a start. Kusal was off the blocks and dominating the Bangladesh bowling. Kusal shared a 69-run partnership with Madushka where he dominated the proceedings. But after getting his fifty he got out scoring 56 off 31 balls while Kamindu got 33 off 51 balls. Both got good starts and could not convert it to a big score.
Sri Lanka like Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals and never got proper flow of the innings. Tanvir Islam of Bangladesh deserves a special mention for his five-wicket haul. His spell won the visitors the game in the end. Since both the Mendis’ got a start, it was important one of them converted into a big score and let others revolve around him to achieve this 249-run target. That was not to be in the end.
Lack of support for Janith Liyanage costs Sri Lanka dear.
While wickets were falling at one end, one man who stood up and kept the fight going was Janith Liyanage. He came into bat at 99/4 in 18.4 overs as Sri Lanka looked in deep waters. He started well and played a great knock at one end but kept on losing his partners at the other end. No one really bothered to hang around with him as he was a one-man show with the lower middle order.
We expected the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana to do a better job with the bat but they did not. Chameera tried his best to support him but his role is not batting. Liyanage saw Sri Lanka slump to 170/8 in 38.3 overs.
The writing was on the wall. But the young man kept fighting alone and scored a brilliant 78 off 85 balls and kept Sri Lanka’s hopes alive. He was calculating it really well in the chase and brought the equation down to 21 needed off 17 balls. But he fell at this moment which pretty much sealed the fate of Sri Lanka. One can argue that he should have finished it off from that position. But he is young and will learn from the experience. It is the other batters who failed to do the job.
So, these are little things that Sri Lanka must fix to come back and win the decider in a few days time. It is not any big issue but minor adjustments and improvements that will help them in a long way for the decider.
What Lies Ahead.
Bangladesh have levelled things up at 1-1 in this 3-match series and the series is set up nicely now. The caravan will now move to Pallekele for the deciding 3rd ODI on Tuesday the 8th of July. Teams batting first won the first two ODIS in Colombo. But with a change of venue and pitch, it will be important to see the conditions before deciding what to do should you win the toss.
Can Sri Lanka bounce back from this loss and keep their proud home record alive and win the match and series? Or will Bangladesh with renewed confidence and form come back and win the series on Sri Lankan soil. It will be a winner take all battle. It’s all to play for as we wait for 8th of July for the decider.
Also Read: SL vs BAN : Taskin Ahmed Opens Up On Astounding Batting Collapse Of Bangladesh