Miraz four-for, Mushfiqur 84 give Bangladesh 33-run win in first ODI against Sri Lanka

Offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s four-wicket haul and Mushfiqur Rahim’s splendid half-century helped Bangladesh ease to a 33-run win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI.

Opting to bat first, the hosts stuttered at the outset before Mushfiqur (84) and Mahmudullah (54) stitched up a century stand as the Tigers posted 257 for six at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla Stadium on Sunday.

The Islanders also stumbled through their chase as Bangladesh chipped away at their wickets regularly with Miraz (4-30) emerging as the tormentor-in-chief.

Tigers’ seamer Mustafizur Rahman also chipped in with three wickets to leave the visitors in shambles on 149 for seven on a tricky surface.

For Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasaranga topscored with 74. He fashioned two recovery stands, the first of 41 runs with Dasun Shanaka for the seventh wicket and of 62 runs with Isuru Udana (21) for the eighth.

But they failed to halt Sri Lanka’s slide and were bundled out with 11 balls to spare, allowing the Tigers to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Earlier, skipper Tamim Iqbal made a sedate 52 off 70 balls before the visitors reduced them to 99 for four.

Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah then set about to rebuild the innings.

Sri Lanka struck early to send opener Liton Das for a duck as Shakib Al Hasan came up on number three.

With Tamim looking good for his 51st ODI half-century, Shakib’s sluggish knock of 15 off 34 balls came to an end when he read Danushka Gunathilaka’s slower delivery wrong and sent it looping at long on.

The pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with three wickets, offspinner Dhananjaya de Silva struck twice in two balls for the prized scalp of Tamim before trapping Mohammad Mithun in front for a duck.

Mushfiqur then anchored the innings with Mahmudullah in the 122-ball stand.

After guiding the home side to 208, having laced his 40th ODI fifty with four boundaries and a six, Mushfiqur perished trying to sweep Lakshan Sandakan.

Mahmudullah then paired with Afif Hossain (27 not out) to grab his 24th half century before being castled by Dhananjaya.

The win, which was Bangladesh’s first after 10 straight defeats in all formats combined, gave the Tigers 10 points, taking them to fourth in ICC’s World Cup Super League behind England, Pakistan and Australia.

Adjudged Man of the Match after the game,  Mushfiqur said, "It wasn't an easy wicket to bat on. When Shakib, Liton got out early, there was pressure. Tamim batted well, allowed me to take my time. And then Riyad was superb.”

“I'm not a big guy, not a Pollard or Russell, I stuck to my strengths, took my time. I had to keep one end safe and that's what I did. The finishing touches from Riyad and Afif were superb. These conditions aren't ideal to play, it's not just hot, the humidity takes a lot out of you but credit to our players."

Skipper Tamim was satisfied with the way his teammates played.

“Happy with the way we fought. Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah were superb. Young Afif batted superbly. We did a decent job scoring 250 because it was two-paced,” he said at the presentation ceremony.

“Definitely good to get back to winning ways. Losing is no fun, we lost 10 games across formats in a row. Winning is happiness. Still got two games, hope to continue this."

Brief Scorecard:

Bangladesh: 257 for 6 in 50 overs (Tamim 52, Liton 0, Shakib, 15, Mushfiqur 84, Mithun 0, Mahmudullah 54, Afif 27 not out, Saifuddin 13 not out; Udana 0-64, Chameera 1-39, Dhananjaya 3-45, Gunathilaka 1-5, Hasaranga 0-48, Sandakan 1-55)

Sri Lanka: 224 all out in 48.1 overs (Gunathilaka 21, Kusal Perera 30, Nissanka 8, Kusal Mendis 24, Dhananjaya 9, Bandara3, Shanaka14, Hasanranga, 74, Udana 21, Sandakan 8 not out, Chameera 5; Miraz 4-30, Taskin 0-62, Mustafizur 3-34, Saifuddin 2-49, Shakib 1-44, Mahmudullah 0-1)