Mahedi, Tanzid, Litton and Mehidy star in breezy Bangladesh win

Half-centuries from Bangladesh’s top three of  Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took their side to a comfortable win over Sri Lanka in their first warm-up fixture ahead of the ODI World Cup, in Guwahati on Friday.

Bangladesh bowled Sri Lanka out for 263 and chased it down with eight overs to spare; other than all the issues these facts point to, Sri Lanka will also worry about their opener Kusal Perera, who walked off the field in the 10th over of their innings with a strain in his right shoulder. He hit 34 off 24 before retiring hurt.

Apart from the result, Bangladesh would have been pleased with Tanzid – who made his debut during the Asia Cup in August and has played just five ODIs so far – as he eases into the international scene. His breezy knock of 84 off 88 balls, which included ten fours and two sixes, blunted a Sri Lanka attack that struggled to exert any pressure. His 131-run opening stand off 124 balls with Litton, who notched up 61, laid a fine platform for the team to chase down Sri Lanka’s 263. Mehidy, who was Bangladesh’s captain for the game, followed the openers’ efforts with an unbeaten 67. He had also bowled 10 tight overs, taking 1 for 32.

After they opted to bat, Sri Lanka began promisingly, with Pathum Nissanka adding a combined 104 with Perera and Kusal Mendis, before they lost their first wicket in the 15th over. Nissanka top-scored with an aggressive 68 and Dhananjaya de Silva made 55 at No. 6 but most of the middle order struggled to get going, with offspinner Mahedi Hassan picking up 3 for 36 in his nine overs. Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed and Mehidy also chipped in with a wicket each to bowl Sri Lanka out for in the final over.

Bangladesh will play their next warm-up game against England on Monday while Sri Lanka will meet Afghanistan on Tuesday. Both matches will be played at the same venue.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 264 for 3 in 42 overs (Tanzid Hasan  84, Mehidy Hasan Mirza  67*, Litton Das 61, Mushfiqur Rahim 35*) beat Sri Lanka 263 in 49.1 overs (Pathum Nissanka 68, Kusal Perera 34, Kusal Mendis 22,  Dhananjaya de Silva 55, Mahedi Hassan 3-36) by seven wickets