Shakib-less Tigers make light work of Sri Lanka with big win in 1st World Cup warm up

Bangladesh have comprehensively beaten Sri Lanka in their first warm-up match of the ICC World Cup by seven wickets in Guwahati on Friday.

Having to bowl first, the Tigers restricted Sri Lanka to 263 in 49.1 overs and then in reply, they reached the target with eight overs to spare.

With the bat, Bangladesh will be most pleased with the batting of the under-fire opening duo of Litton Das (61 runs off 56 balls) and Tanzid Hasan Tamim (84 runs off 88 balls), who both scored half-centuries in a 100-plus run partnership to get the run chase off to a good start.

Stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz (67 not out from 64 balls) then elevated himself up the order and finished the job with an unbeaten half-century of his own.

Earlier, Sri Lanka looked set for at least 300 when their top-order batters were going great guns but Bangladesh pulled things back big time after the powerplay, more precisely in the second half of the innings, to restrict them to 263 in the first innings of the World Cup warm-up match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

Boundaries dried up for Sri Lanka when they needed them desperately as the bowlers changed their pace to great effect. The fast bowlers used a lot of slower balls and hit the block hole quite often in the last ten overs. 

Acting captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the side well in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, who reportedly picked up an injury during a practice session ahead of the match. He bowled tremendously well too and was the most economical bowler. 

Mahedi Hasan continued his form from the Asia Cup and the New Zealand ODI series and showed again why he could be a great option on unresponsive wickets. 

But what was most eye-catching was Bangladesh's fielding. A relatively young side with eight players playing in the 50-over World Cup for the first time, their fielding was top-notch. They saved a number of boundaries even when Sri Lanka were taking the bowlers down. It was hard to get the ball past the likes of Tanzid Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. 

Mahmudullah, whose fielding was criticised in the last few series he was part of, had a good day in the field with a run out from a direct hit and a catch under his belt. 

Taskin Ahmed bowled superbly well with the new ball on a pitch where no movement was on offer. Kusal Perera hit his new-ball partner Tanzim Hasan Sakib for two boundaries to get going. It was hard work for bowlers and stand-in skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz had to use five bowlers inside the first powerplay. 

Perera and Pathum Nissanka didn't find it very tough as the ball was coming nicely onto the bat. Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud were taken to the cleaners early. The Sri Lanka openers were pretty strong square of the wicket and clipped well off the pads. 

Perera (34 off 26) looked good for a big one but after a beautiful straight drive, he felt a bit of discomfort on his shoulder and walked off.

Nissanka continued to pick up boundaries. Generally a slow starter, Nissanka found his rhythm early. The in-form Kusal Mendis had a strong start. He played Nasum, the lone left-arm spinner, very well, slog-sweeping him. But the Bangladesh spinner had the last laugh as he accounted for Mendis' wicket in the 15th over.

Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan came into the attack in the very next over and got Sadeera Samarawickrama out. But what Bangladesh needed desperately was the wicket of Nissanka who was going great guns. Mahedi provided that in the 20th over as the right-hander hit the ball straight to him. 

It was the start of a good 30-over period for Bangladesh. The spinners grew more accurate and gave nothing away to the Sri Lanka batters. They built up the dots to frustrate the Sri Lanka batters, causing Asalanka (18 off 32) to go for an extravagant shot and lose his wicket, again to Mahedi. 

By that time, Miraz had started bowling and despite not getting into the wickets' column early, he tied the batters down. The pitch had started playing some tricks by the time the second half of the innings started.

Dasun Shanaka (3 off 17) had yet another disastrous innings and after a torturous half-an-hour in the middle, Shoriful Islam deceived him with a slower short ball and got rid of him.

Dhananjaya de Silva was Sri Lanka's saviour, hitting a crucial half-century to rebuild the innings after a huge setback in the middle phase. He made 55 off 79 before Miraz's intelligent bowling caused him to hit the ball straight to Mahmudullah at long-off.

Tanzim finished things off with the wicket of Dushan Hemantha off a slower ball out of the back of the hand.