Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka has slammed his fifth century in ODI cricket. Charith Asalanka reached the three-figure mark in the 1st ODI against Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The Lankan batter led from the front after his side was down to 29/3. He added two brief stands with Kusal Mendis and Janith Liyanage to lead SL’s fightback.
As mentioned, Charith Asalanka raced to his fifth century in ODI cricket. His tally also includes 15 half-centuries.
In 74 ODIs, the Lankan batter has racked up 2,480 runs at an average of 44-plus. He has a healthy strike rate of over 91 in ODIs. Notably, four of his ODI tons have come at home. His only other century has come at a neutral venue.
As per ESPNcricinfo, Charith Asalanka raced to his second century against Bangladesh in ODI cricket. He now owns 432 runs from seven ODIs at an average of 72.00 against Bangladesh. He also has two half-centuries.
A monumental collapse for Bangladesh, triggered by the Sri Lankan spinners, saw the hosts take an early lead in the series with a comfortable 77-run win in the first ODI at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Wednesday (July 2).
A measured century from skipper Charith Asalanka and a useful 45 from Kusal Mendis helped Sri Lanka finish with a competitive 244. Bangladesh, in reply, got off to a good start but lost their way completely from the 17th over of the chase. Jaker Ali scored a valiant 51 but his knock went in vain as Bangladesh folded for 167.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The comfort levels of the players will be tested, it’s hot, humid and muggy. The pitch looks very good, it’s hard and there’s hardly any grass. The new ball is the best time for the batters, but there could be some spin during the middle overs. Dew could be a factor under lights. 260-280 could be a winning score, reckons Farveez Maharoof, in his pitch report.
Toss : Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and chose to bat with one debutant Milan Rathnayake in the Playing XI. Bangladesh skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz also added two debutants in his Playing XI.
Charith Asalanka’s resolute 106 powers Sri Lanka to 244 all out
It wasn’t a great start from Sri Lanka after they opted to bat as they slipped to 29 for 3 inside eight overs. The in-form Pathum Nissanka fell for a duck, attempting a cut off Tanzim Hasan Sakib only to get an edge to the ‘keeper. Nishan Madushka chopped on a Taskin Ahmed delivery and the bowler also had Kamindu Mendis spooning a catch to mid-off, dismissing him for nought.
Meanwhile, Kusal was playing a fluent innings at the other end, dealing in boundaries, including two fours and a six off Tanzim in the sixth over. Charith Asalanka got going with some cracking shots, including a six over cover off Taskin and a slog-sweep for a maximum off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, helping Sri Lanka to the 50-run mark at the end of the 10th over.
Charith Asalanka’s knock was critical to Sri Lanka getting out of trouble after they slipped to 29 for 3 in the seventh over. Tanzim removed Pathum Nissanka for a duck, before Taskin got Nishan Madushka to drag his away-going delivery to his stumps.
Kusal and Asalanka put on a 60-run stand, which came to an end in the 19th over when the former was trapped in front by debutant left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam, falling five short of a half-century. Asalanka continued positively, striking a six off Taskin en route to a 61-ball fifty, with Janith Liyanage supporting him well from the other end as they raised a fifty-run stand to give Sri Lanka a steady platform.
Taskin then had Kamindu caught at mid-off, also for a duck, as Bangladesh felt they were on top. They controlled the scoring rate during the 60-run fourth wicket stand between Kusal Mendis and Asalanka. Debutant Tanvir had Mendis lbw for 45, leaving Charith Asalanka with a lot of recovery still left to do.
But Bangladesh again hit back to end a promising partnership, with Najmul Hossain Shanto getting Liyanage caught at long-on. Shanto, however, was hit for a six by Charith Asalanka and a four by Milan Rathnayake in his next over. The new playing conditions also kicked in, with Bangladesh having to choose one of the two balls after over no. 34.
He added 64 runs for the fifth wicket with Liyanage, who eventually struck one down long-off’s throat after making 29 off 40 balls and followed it with a 39-run stand for the sixth wicket with Rathnayake.
Rathnayake was involved in a useful 39-run stand with Asalanka before being bowled by Tanzim for 22. Wanindu Hasaranga then struck a brisk 22, with three fours, but his stay was cut short by Taskin, who also picked up the wicket of Maheesh Theekshana to leave Sri Lanka at 228 for 8 in the 46th over.
Charith Asalanka forged on, hitting some nice shots but mostly batting as the innings anchor. He added 34 with Hasaranga, and while there wasn’t much pace to the partnerships, it held Sri Lanka in place.
Taskin removed Hasaranga and Theekshana in the same over before Asalanka reached his century in the 48th over. Looking at the final scorecard, Sri Lanka would be grateful that their captain never gave up despite the wickets falling regularly at the other end.
Charith Asalanka went on to bring up his fifth ODI hundred but fell in the final over, as Tanzim finished with three wickets to keep Sri Lanka below 250.
Wanindu Hasaranga’s 4-fer triggers dramatic collapse as Bangladesh loses the match
Parvez Hossain Emon, the other debutant in the Bangladesh XI, began confidently along with Tanzid Hasan, with the openers scoring six fours between them in the first five overs. But an attempted slog went awry for Emon, who fell to Asitha Fernando for 13.
Tanzid then struck a four and a six off Rathnayake while Shanto got going with two fours off Fernando. Both scored at a steady rate, with Tanzid bringing up a 51-ball fifty, as they took their partnership past 70 before Bangladesh suffered a collapse.
Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto got Bangladesh to a fine start, adding 71 runs for the second wicket. Both were batting fluently, until, disaster struck.
Shanto’s dive couldn’t beat debutant Rathnayake’s throw from deep square leg, in the 17th over. He made 23, but with Tanzid unbeaten on 61 at the other end, Bangladesh would have still thought they were on top.
Asalanka introduced Hasaranga in the 18th over, partly because finally a right-hander had arrived at the crease. Litton Das fell lbw for a duck to the legspinner’s second ball. Litton has now failed to reach double-figures in his last eight ODIs, stretching back to December 2023. It was his fourth duck too, in these eight innings.
It started with the run-out of Shanto, who went for a second run but found himself short of the crease despite a dive. Hasaranga then struck twice in the 18th over to leave Bangladesh in more trouble. Litton Das was trapped in front for a duck while the well-set Tanzid was undone by a stunning catch from Liyanage, who flew to his right from mid-off and held on to the ball with both hands.
Two balls later, the set batter Tanzid played a poor shot against Hasaranga, hanging back to blast him to mid-off. Liyanage took a brilliant catch, diving high to his right. Tanzid made 62 off 61 balls, with nine fours and a six.
Kamindu then bowled the best delivery of this collapse, getting his left-arm spin to zip through Towhid Hridoy’s defensive push. New captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz was next to go, trapped lbw by Hasaranga’s googly, falling for a duck in the next over.
There was more to come as Towhid Hridoy was bowled by Kamindu and new skipper Mehidy followed soon after as he was out lbw to Hasaranga. The ambidextrous bowler Kamindu then pocketed the wickets of Tanzim and Taskin in the same over. Bangladesh, who were going strong at 100 for 1, lost seven wickets for five runs as they slipped to 105 for 8.
Tanvir put away a loose ball from Kamindu while Jaker also struck a four off the same bowler as the ninth wicket pair added 20 runs, spending close to eight overs at the crease. Theekshana, however, ended the stand having Tanvir caught behind.
Kamindu then took a brace in the 21st over. First he removed Tanzim Hasan, when Maheesh Theekshana caught him at short midwicket nicely. Kamindu switched to right-arm offbreaks, and had Taskin Ahmed trapped lbw, to make it 105 for 8.
Theekshana then got Tanvir caught behind before Jaker Ali’s 51, with four sixes and as many fours, reduced Bangladesh’s margin of defeat to less than 100 runs.
Jaker then hit sixes off Asalanka and Theekshana and also struck a four and a six off Fernando as he attempted a fightback. He also did well to farm most of the strike, while Mustafizur hung around at the other end. Boundaries off Hasaranga and Theekshana helped Jaker bring up a 59-ball fifty as he kept Bangladesh afloat.
Adding to Sri Lanka’s frustrations, they were handed a five-run penalty for starting an over late, for the third time after two prior warnings. But that didn’t matter much eventually as Hasaranga ended Jaker’s fine innings by trapping him in front, closing out the game in the 36th over.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mehidy Hasan Miraz the loosing Bangladesh skipper said : The wicket was good. I think we bowled really especially the fast bowlers. The middle overs we didn’t get wickets. Credit to Asalanka the way he played. It was very hot. Two important bowlers got cramps.
It can happen. Tamim and Shanto played really well. The run-out of Shanto was a mistake. The middle-order didn’t play well. Back-to-back wickets was a problem. We needed little partnerships there. We had chances but we didn’t take them.
Charith Asalanka the winning skipper and Player of the Match for his 106 runs said : Â It was a difficult time to come in and bat. But was trying to do my basics right. Got off to a good start and then tried to play to the situation. They were struggling with injuries but we didn’t have enough wickets in the end to take advantage. Our best fielding performance recently.
In a matter of 15 minutes, Bangladesh’s batting unfurled in an ugly collapse, one of the worst in ODI history, handing Sri Lanka a 77-run win in the first ODI. Bangladesh slipped from 100 for 1 to 105 for 8 in the space of 20 deliveries. Those were the fewest runs added from the fall of the second wicket to the eighth.
100/1 to 105/8. Bangladesh played appalling cricket. One runout is what it all took to trigger this collapse. Shanto had earlier fumed at Tanzid for not responding to his call for a second run, but when the youngster did obey orders, Shanto fell short by an inch. Enter Hasaranga! He stormed his way to three wickets just 7 balls into his spell. He bowled a total of 7.5 overs, in which he bowled a whopping 40 dot balls.
Charith Asalanka earlier led with the bat and then come up with inspired bowling changes post the first drinks interval to completely change the course of the game. Bangladesh were running away with the game when Shanto decided to run himself out looking for a second.
Then Hasaranga and Kamindu Mendis shared the ruins as they ran riot in the next few overs after the first drinks break. Tanvir Islam and Mustafizur did show some application and hung in there with Jaker Ali to reduce the margin of defeat. Jaker batted valiantly for his fifty but that was never going to be enough. SL have taken a 1-0 lead!
SL have once again proved why they are so good in these home conditions. Spin to win is their mantra and that came out true once again tonight. Led by their skipper – Asalanka – who scored a fighting ton, SL scored only 244. It seemed pretty less as Bangladesh got off to a smashing start. But then an unnecessary run-out triggered a massive collapse.
Bangladesh lost 7 wickets in a span of four odd overs and the match tilted firmly in favour of the hosts. Jaker tried but was left with a mountain to climb. Bangladesh got carried away with the start but we have seen in the past SL bring out their aces once the ball becomes a little old.The twin changes after the drinks break was a master stroke. The ball spun and the visitors were taken for a ride.
They did a mistake which has been committed again and again by so many previous teams as well. They needed to show better application on a wicket which was slowing down by the minute. But they didn’t. That’s it from game 1 of this ODI series. It will be interesting to see how the visitors bounce back as they also possess good stock when it comes to the spin department.
Also Read: SL vs BAN: Prabath Jayasuriya’s 12th Five-Wicket Haul Seals An Emphatic Win For Sri Lanka