Sri Lanka 314 for 8 (Perera 111, Mathews 48, Shafiul 3-62) beat Bangladesh 223 all out (Mushfiqur 67, Malinga 3-38) by 91 runs
Lasith Malinga took matters into his own hands, and gave himself a proper farewell with his classic yorker blitz, as he unnerved Bangladesh and helped Sri Lanka to a 91-run win in Colombo. The home side, thanks to Kusal Perera's ton, put up a challenging total, and were then lifted by Malinga's spell, as they dominated the first ODI.
A packed R Premadasa Stadium had an evening to remember as they cheered all the way down to Malinga's last over, when he took the final wicket to fall, Thisara Perera holding on to a steep chance at mid-off to give him his third wicket in the game. The crowd had first given Malinga a huge cheer when he walked to bat with fan Percy Abeysekera waving the Sri Lankan flag right up to the batting crease.
Tamim was Malinga's first victim, in the very first over, unable to jam his bat down in time to what was an unplayable yorker. His first spell was a mix of yorkers and attempted yorkers.
Nuwan Pradeep soon joined the party, sticking to disciplined lengths in his first spell. He pinned Mohammad Mithun in front in the eighth over. Malinga's yorker got Soumya Sarkar in the next over, and Bangladesh were in trouble at 30 for 3.
Lahiru Kumara, who had replaced Pradeep at the other end, hurried Mahmudullah into a ramp shot that he could only guide down third-man's throat. Bangladesh slipped to 39 for four, and at that point were desperately looking for a decent partnership.
Sabbir Rahman, under pressure after a string of low scores in the World Cup, injected some life into Bangladesh's chase, along with Mushfiqur Rahim. While Mushfiqur approached the innings cautiously, Sabbir played more freely as the duo put up a 111-run stand. When the boundaries dried up in the middle overs, Sabbir itched for the big hits, and it was a matter of time that he holed out for 60 in the 29th over.
Following his wicket, Bangladesh went into freefall. Mosaddek Hossain was run-out after a comical mix-up with Mushfiqur Rahim. Mendis then took an impressive catch down the leg side to remove Mushfiqur (67 off 86) which left Bangladesh reeling at 199 for 8 in 38.1 overs. They reached a point of no return as Pradeep and Malinga sealed it for Sri Lanka within the next three overs.
Earlier, Sri Lanka couldn't quite do justice to the strong platform set by centurion Perera, handing 315 for Bangladesh to chase. Perera played a fast-paced knock, hitting 17 fours and a six in his 99-ball 111, adding 97 and 100 for the second and third wicket respectively with Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis. Perera was Sri Lanka's anchor, as he struck 17 fours and a six in his 99-ball knock.
For Bangladesh, Shafiul Islam took three wickets in his first ODI in three years, and bowled with more discipline than the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain.
