Sri Lanka finally put on a convincing performance at this ICC World Cup, running over a below-par Bangladesh in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Pool A encounter at the MCG.
Kumar Sangakkara played like only Kumar Sangakkara can, striking a hundred that you want to rewind and watch again and again, while Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a massive hundred of his own to flatten Bangladesh in the first innings, with the duo putting on a massive 210 in 25.3 overs.
Sri Lanka made full use of winning the toss and batting first, smashing the Bangladesh bowlers all around the park to post 332/1 in 50 overs.
Dilshan notched an outstanding unbeaten 161 (146b, 22x4), while Sangakkara, in his 400th ODI, was as smooth as ever in his own delightful unconquered 105 (76b, 13x4, 1x6) – the first ever hundred at the MCG for the left-hander extraordinaire -- coming in and cranking that run rate up a few notches after Dilshan had put on a 122-run partnership for the opening wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne (52, 78b, 3x4).
Facing a massive chase, Bangladesh reeled under the pressure, barely putting up a fight as they were bowled out for a mere 240 in 47 overs to crash to a 92-run defeat.
The massive win will give Sri Lanka the confidence needed ahead of more challenging contests – chief of them being against England and Australia.
Bangladesh were weak in the field, dropping Thirimanne early in the match, a drop which eventually proved really costly as the big opening partnership set the tone for the rest of the innings.
Had Anamul Haque hung on to that easy catch in the slips in just the fourth ball of the innings, the match might have taken a completely different course; instead Sangakkara walked in with Sri Lanka on 122/1 in the 25th over, and there was no looking back as both the experienced campaigners played with complete freedom, punishing the sloppy bowling and taking full advantage of the even sloppier fielding.
With 333 to chase, a win for Bangladesh was going to be a tall order, and it only got taller as Tamim Iqbal fell in the second delivery of the innings, playing inside a corker of a delivery from Lasith Malinga, which took off-stump off its roots.
Soumya Sarkar came in a belted a few in his quickfire 25 (15b, 5x5), but wickets kept tumbling, with Bangladesh losing half their side at the score of 100 as the Sri Lanka bowlers shared the wickets amongst them.
Shakib Al Hasan (46, 59b, 4x4, 1x6) and Mushfiqur (36, 39b, 2x4, 1x6), who came in at No.6 and No.7 respectively, for reasons only the Bangladesh team know, put on their customary decent partnership – 64 in 67 balls -- but with the game already gone by that time, all the lusty hits from the two standout batsmen did was add a bit of cheer for the wonderful Bangladesh crowd.
Get the Full Scorecard of the game HERE
