Buoyant Bangladesh primed to secure first ODI series triumph over Sri Lanka

After a fascinating show in the opening match, Bangladesh go into the second ODI looking to wrap up their maiden series win against Sri Lanka.

The match is set for a 3pm start [BdST] at Rangiri Damulla International Stadium on Tuesday.

Boosted by a crushing 90-run win on Saturday which followed a memorable Test win over Sri Lanka, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s men have their sights firmly set on a series-clinching victory on a potential green top at the same venue.

The Tigers’ skipper, Tamim Iqbal, their century hero from the first match, and prodigious youngsters made the tourists’ intent clear ahead of the match -- they want to claim the series before moving to Colombo for the last game.

It has been more than a decade since the last time Bangladesh had such an opportunity against the islanders. In 2006, Bangladesh won by four wickets at Bogra to register their first win against Sri Lanka who later sealed the series at Chittagong.

“Won’t it be a huge thing if we win [on Tuesday]? Definitely. The possibility is there. For that we have to play the way we did in the first match,” Mashrafe said on Monday.

“I have full faith that we will play our best. And if we can do that, chances of winning the series will also be the highest.”

Hosts Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are desperate to save the series and also to get their one-day form on track.

The Lankan lions, ranked a spot ahead of the seventh-placed Bangladesh, are going through a poor spell in ODIs.

They have lost series against England, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand since 2015 while their victories came against the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland in that time.

 “I know they’ll desperately try to save the series. They are 1-0 down and will definitely want to be aggressive from the outset. They are very able, so our job will be to execute the plans correctly,” Mashrafe added.

The pitch on which the opening match was played was bare of any grass and assisted the batsmen, allowing Bangladesh to post a mammoth 324. The track for the second ODI, however, appeared green from a distance on the eve of the match.

Mashrafe thinks the track will change little on the next day.

“It’s difficult to say how much a wicket’s grass can assist pacers. But if you want grass on subcontinent tracks, this is what you’d want to have.

“And the reason is quite clear actually. They have brought in two new pacers. So the wicket could have grass on it.”

Sri Lanka called up the experienced Nuwan Kulasekara and Nuwan Pradip for the second 50-over affair after fitness concerns forced Sri Lanka’s spearhead pacer Suranga Lakmal into the sidelines .