BAN vs SL

That sets it up beautifully for the final ODI. It would be a day game that will be played on 18th March. With the series up for grabs, it promises to be a cracker of a contest. Team Sportskeeda would be on their toes to paint vivid pictures for every ball fro you with our words. But for now, it is a goodbye from Darpan Tikiya and Soumarya Dutta. 

Sri Lanka win by 3 wickets.

Pathum Nissanka 114 (113) | Wanindu Hasaranga 4/45
Towhid Hridoy 96* (102) | Taskin Ahmed 2/49

Having lost 3 early wickets, Sri Lanka came back strongly in the middle phase of the innings. Nissanka and Asalanka stitched together a partnership that can be used as a case study to explain to young batters how to bat your team out of trouble. They played percentage cricket, milked around ones. Converted the odd ones into twos by being alert whilst sprinting between the sticks. And whenever a loose ball was offered, they dispatched it with flair.

Bangladesh looked clueless until Nissanka holed one out to the man at orthodox deep midwicket. Everyone thought that it was a little too late. That Nissanka had put SL in a situation where the result was a forgone conclusion. But it wasn't. They say, "In cricket, it is never really over until it's actually over". And we saw an example of it today. The three seamers bowled their hearts out. Taskin kept on running in and bowling with intensity despite every inch of his shirt being soaked in sweat. Tanzim came back from a rough couple of overs up top. Shoriful did his thing. And Sri Lanka stuttered. 

The memories of the lower order collapse from the first ODI started flashing in front of our eyes. But, the two allrounders kept their calm. Dunith Wellalage batted for a number of overs and never looked to hit a four even. Hasaranga only started swinging when the finish line was visible. In the end, calculative, smart batting ensured that Sri Lanka did not breakdown before reaching home. 

Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka Captain: I think firstly Wanindu Hasaranga bowled really well. Also fast bowlers came back well but they got 280 which was a good score on this ground. Pathum and Charith batted well in the situation and Wanindu batted well in the last few overs. Hopefully, I can chip in too in the final ODI. Thanks to Sri Lankan supporters in the crowd for their support. 

Pathum Nissanka, Player of the match: After the 3 wickets fell, Charith and me decided to bat normally. Looking at the score on the board, the idea was to bat long. Initially it was important for us to settle down. Once we were settled, we decided one of us could take on the bowling. 

Nazmul Hossain Shanto , Bangladesh Captain - The way me and Soumya started we should have batted a bit longer. We couldn't do well in the middle overs and in the next match we hope that we can do something special and turn over our fortunes. We will need the batters to do better and put up bigger scores. 

They were cruising and then stuttered, and then stuttered a bit more but eventually got home safe! Sri Lanka have comeback to level the series 1-1 setting up a delicious recipe for the 3rd ODI on 18th March. 

47.1 Towhid Hridoy to Dunith Wellalage, THERE's  THE WINNING RUNS! It was short and around off stump. Wellalage cut it away behind square on the off side for a couple of runs. Sri Lanka win by 3 wickets and level the series 1-1!

Towhid Hridoy, right arm offspin, to bowl.

Sri Lanka need 2 runs to win off 3 overs. Surely they cannot falter from here on. But can Bangladesh pick up a wicket just to spice things up?

Pramod Madhushan, RHB, is the new batter. He is not in the team for his batting credentials.

Surely there isn't another twist in the tale! Surely, this is too late now! Is it though? You never ever know. 

46.5 Taijul Islam to Wanindu Hasaranga, GONEE!! Hasaranga departs! It was tossed up again and Hasaranga went for the glory shot. He mistiemd the slog sweep and it was a leading edge. He holed out at the edge of the circle. The seventh one is down now.

Wanindu Hasaranga c Litton Das b Taijul Islam 25 (16b, 1x4, 2x6)

46.4 Taijul Islam to Wanindu Hasaranga, FOUR MOREE!!! It was tossed up and around off stump. Hasaranga goes for the slog sweep over deep mid wicket for a boundary. 

46.2 Taijul Islam to Wanindu Hasaranga, SIXXX!! BIG! It was tossed up and around off stump. Hasaranga cleared his front leg and went through the line of the ball and smashed it down the ground for a MAXIMUM. Just 6 runs more needed for Sri Lanka.