Though the slinger, Lasith Malinga retired in the previous match of the series reigning over Bangladesh one last time to give Sri Lanka a perfect head start but Sri Lanka was still playing with the same passion. As ‘the show must go on’, a Malinga-less Sri Lanka also raged the same way over Bangladesh and acquire the 2nd victory, also sealing the series with it, while Bangladeshi bowlers had a costly day at the field, eventually falling short of the victory and fight-back.
Choosing to bat first, Bangladesh did not quite had the desired start at first, as the top the 3 batsmen, including captain Tamim Iqbal (19 out; 31b; 2X4), collapsed without contributing some promising run. However, wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim (98 not out; 110b; 6X4, 1X6) once again took charge of the situation, guiding Bangladesh through the Lankan bowling attacks. While his partners failed to provide him any support whatsoever, Rahim batted till the end, contributing 98 runs, and taking Bangladesh to 238 with some help from Mehidy Hasan (43 out; 49b; 6X4) at the end of their 50 overs.
The Bangladesh bowlers failed to take early wickets or at least stop the incoming runs from Sri Lankan’s batting line-up and only scalping the wicket of Captain Dimuth Karunaratne (15 out; 29b; 1X4) in the 11th over. By then, the other opener Avishka Fernando (82 out; 75b; 9X4, 2X6) was all set on the pitch and was looking extremely dangerous, and removing his partner did not do much damage to Lankan batting line-up. However, Mustafizur Rahman managed to stop Fernando in the 21st over, but Perera and Mendis each contributing enough and Angelo Mathews (52 not out; 57b; 7X4) with his half century guided Sri Lanka straight to their 2nd victory of the 3-day ODI series, with the last game yet to happen but Sri Lanka hands down has already seized the tournament from Bangladesh.
