Kusal Mendis and pace duo make it a Sri Lankan night of joy

Kusal Mendis recorded his 6th ODI century and forged crucial 124-run stand with Charith Asalanka

Charith Asalanka scored valuable 58 for his side

Dushmantha Chameera celebrates wicket of Najmul Hossain

Asitha Fernando snares another Bangladesh wicket on his way to three-wicket haul 

• Win 3-match ODI series against Bangladesh 2-1

Sri Lanka came up with an exceptional bowling performance led by their pace duo Asitha Fernando and Dushmantha Chameera after Kusal Mendis had scripted his sixth ODI century to beat Bangladesh by 99 runs in the third and final ODI played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday and clinch the three-match series 2-1.

It was Sri Lanka’s seventh ODI series win out of nine since their disappointing 2023 Cricket World Cup campaign that also saw them fail to qualify for a place in the ICC Champions trophy. Their only two losses have come in away series in Bangladesh and in New Zealand.

After Sri Lanka had scored 285-7 winning the toss and batting first, their bowlers never allowed Bangladesh to build any sort of momentum as they kept picking wickets at regular intervals. The bowlers hit their straps from the start and never let Bangladesh off the hook and eventually bowled them out for 186 in the 40th over.

Several batsmen got starts for Bangladesh but all of them failed to convert them into meaningful contributions. Towhid Hridoy (51 off 78 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) waged a lone battle and stitched useful partnerships with Parvez Hossain and Mehidy Hasan, but apart from that lacked support from the other end.

Chameera rattled Bangladesh with his extreme pace, while Fernando displayed his bag of tricks of slower ball variations etc. as they shared six wickets between them. Sri Lanka’s spin duo of Dunith Wellalage and Wanindu Hasaranga gave adequate support with their lengths and claimed four between them.

Overall, it was a thoroughly professional performance by Sri Lanka who came to this match with the series in the balance at one-all. Despite losing momentum towards the end of their innings when they scored 63 runs and lost four wickets in the final 10 overs, the bowling department put their hands up to secure a huge win and wrap up the series.  

At one stage of their innings Sri Lanka were 222-3 with two set batters Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka out in the middle. The wicket of Asalanka (58 off 68 balls, 9 fours) however, started to swing things in favour of Bangladesh. They managed to bring down the run rate with timely wickets and managed to restrict Sri Lanka to a total well below 300.

Kusal Mendis made full use of the excellent batting conditions to score his 6th ODI ton (124 off 114 balls) that included 18 fours. Batting coach Thilina Kandamby had wanted Kusal Mendis to make the best of his good form, and he did that yesterday beautifully. He never got bogged down in his innings, and anything on the leg side was swatted away. He stitched a 124-run stand off 117 balls with Captain Asalanka for the fourth wicket and played a crucial role during the middle overs. 

At the toss Asalanka had said that he would be happy with 280 and his bowlers played a vital hand in helping Sri Lanka win the series. Although a score of 300 seemed a possibility, Bangladesh, like they had done throughout the innings, stuck well to their plans and forced mistakes out of the Sri Lankan batsmen to keep them well below 300. But in the end it was the bowlers who had the final say.

Kusal Mendis for his outstanding form in the match as well as the series took the Player of the Match as well as the Player of the Series awards.