Earning a definite lead of 2-0 after winning 2 matches straight, Sri Lanka was already clinching the 3-day ODI series on their hands. If Bangladesh even won, the last match of the series they had little to almost no chance whatsoever to win the entire tournament. However, Sri Lanka had no desire to let a single game out of their hands, and they played accordingly to clinically whitewash Bangladesh.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, though Avishka Fernando (6 out; 14b), dangerous player of the previous match fell prey to Shafiul Islam’s spells, but captain Dimuth Karunaratne (46 out; 60b; 6X4) and Kusal Perera (42 out; 51b; 5X4) took charge of the situation with an 83 runs partnership. Bangladeshi bowlers gave a decent fightback, clinching both the set batsmen in the 21st and 22nd over consecutively. Kusal Mendis (54 out; 58b; 5X4, 1X6) and Angelo Mathews (87 out; 90b; 8X4, 1X6) took some time to settle down, after which Angelo Mathews heroics guided Sri Lanka to a decent target, as Sri Lanka registered 294 with the loss of 8 wickets.
The clinical bowling by Lankan bowlers stole the show, while Bangladeshi bowlers costed plenty to their team in the 1st innings which made all the difference. Under pressure of Sri Lankan bowlers, the two openers, Anamul Haque (14 out; 24b; 2X4) and captain Tamim Iqbal (2 out; 6b) succumbed very early in the game leaving the chase in doubt. Soumya Sarkar (69 out; 86b; 5X4, 1X6) however, played a solo game without any proper support from his teammates, contributing 69 runs to the chase. But after Sarkar’s dismissal rest of the team severely failed to create an impact, only Taijul Islam (39 out; 28b; 5X4, 1X6) was fighting hard at the end, but the run out of Rubel Hossain (2 run out; 6b) resulted in Bangladesh losing all of their wickets within 36 over, thus letting Sri Lanka taking the victory straightaway.
