Bangladesh level series after rain reduction

Cricket365
March 28, 2013

Bangladesh pulled off their first ever win in Sri Lanka over the hosts, winning the third ODI in Pallekele by three wickets as rain reduced the target dramatically, nullifying Tillakaratne Dilshan's century.

Sri Lanka put up a mammoth 302 for nine in their 50 overs, thanks to Dilshan's 125 and 56 from Kushal Perera, but the weather had other ideas and the Tigers had to chase just 183 in 27 overs to level the series.

Dilshan's knock was superb, as he and Perera put on 116 for the first wicket, and then Kumar Sangakkara added 48 of his own to ensure a big score. If it weren't for those knocks though, Abdur Razzak's five-fer could well have given the Tigers an easier target.

Bangladesh's chase got off to a good start, with Mohammad Ashraful and Anamul Haque putting on 77 for the first wicket, before they both departed within 20 runs of each other. The rain arrived in the 13th over though, halting proceedings for much of the day.

After the covers were cleared for the umpteenth time, the overs were reduced to 27, so the Tigers had 14 overs to score the remaining 106 runs. Wickets soon began to tumble and it looked as though the hosts would scrape home.

But Thisara Perera had a nightmare 26th over, and Nasir Hossain, who made 33 not out, struck 18 runs off it to give the Tigers the win with six balls to spare.

Sri Lanka: Kushal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga

Bangladesh: Jahurul Islam, Anamul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Ziaur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Sohag Gazi, Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak