RAJSHAHI: Ritu Moni’s frugal bowling figures of 3/36 in nine overs followed by Sharmin Akhtar’s anchor half-century helped Bangladesh win the first ODI against Sri Lanka by three wickets at the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium on Monday.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka posted 205/9 in 50 overs despite half-centuries from Imesha Dhulani and Hansima Karunaratne.
Karunaratne scored a cautious 54 off 71 balls with 6 fours, while Dhulani scored 52 off 77 balls, hitting several boundaries.
Apart from them, middle-order batsman Kavisha Dilhari and captain Hasini Perera made significant contributions to Sri Lanka’s total with 30 and 27 runs respectively.
Moni conceded just 36 runs in her nine overs to take three wickets against Bangladesh’s restrained bowling attack, followed by Nahida Akhtar with 2 wickets, while Maruba Akhtar, Sultana Khatun, Rabeya Khan and Sobana Mostari claimed a scalp each.
Chasing 206, Sharmin’s brave innings saw the home team eventually clinch the winning runs with 7 wickets and nine balls to spare.
Sharman walked out to bat at No. 3 with a scoreboard of 1/1 in 0.5 overs and anchored Bangladesh’s chase till the third ball of the 45th over with a half-century that earned him the Man of the Match award.
The right-handed batsman retreated after top-scoring with a gutsy 86 off 127 balls with 13 fours when Bangladesh needed just 6 wickets off 33 balls.
His anchor in the run chase was a half-century
Despite the home team losing three wickets in quick succession following his dismissal, No.9 batsman Nahida led them with three wickets not out.
Dewmi Vihanga bowled well for Sri Lanka with 3 wickets for 43 runs in 10 overs, while Malki Madara bagged two wickets and Nimasha Mibake and Inoka Ranaweera took one wicket each.