Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the second ODI in Colombo to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Opener Avishka Fernando top-scored for the hosts with 82 off 75 balls while Angelo Mathews was unbeaten on 52 as Sri Lanka chased down their target of 239 with more than five overs in hand.
Bangladesh has recorded 238-8 off their 50 overs, with Mushfiqur Rahim finishing on 98 not out. Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana and Akila Dananjaya each took two wickets for Sri Lanka.
It was Sri Lanka’s first bilateral ODI series win at home in three-and-a-half years. Despite the historic win, man-of-the-match Fernando said he was disappointed at missing out on a century.
“I am disappointed to not get to the three-figure mark and hopefully I can convert my starts in the future,” said Fernando. “The track was a bit slow and also spun a bit. I am glad that I was able to make a contribution.”
This is Sri Lanka's 1st bilateral ODI series victory since beating W Indies 3-0 (3) at home in Nov 2015 - 3 years, 8 months ago!
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 28, 2019
During this period they had only beaten Ireland 2-0 (2) in June 2016 and Scotland 1-0 (1-0) in May 2019 - both away from home!#SLvBan SLvsBan#BanvSL
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said winning at home after such a long period was a huge relief.
“We’ve done very well. Heard we won after 44 months at home. Bowlers did a great job, the spinners Akila and Dananjaya in particular. Avishka went for it in the beginning, unfortunately missed his hundred,” the skipper said.
His Bangladesh counterpart Tamim Iqbal said it was a disappointing outing and said his players simply did not put in the extra effort required.
“We needed to start well. Four down for 50 doesn’t help but the way we bowled even 300 would not have been enough. We just weren’t ready to do the hard work and chose the easy option,” Tamim said.
The hosts won the first ODI by 91 runs on Friday and the third and final match of the series will be held on Wednesday.
