Skipper Kusal Perera rode on his luck to strike 120 off 122 balls before Dushmantha Chameera claimed his maiden five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 97 runs in the third one-day international on Friday.
Perera’s sixth ODI hundred guided Sri Lanka to 286-6 before Chameera’s 5-16 helped them bowl out the Tigers for 189 in 42.3 overs
The Tigers never looked competitive once Chameera’s three-wicket burst in the opening spell left them reduced to 28-3.
Mosaddek Hossain made 51 and Mahmudullah added 53 late in the innings but they could only reduce the margin of defeat as Sri Lanka avoided a whitewash in the series.
Bangladesh won the first two matches of the series, respectively by 33 and 103 runs.
The Tigers were left ruing after fielders dropped Perera respectively on 66, 79 and 99 runs with Shakib Al Hasan being the unlucky bowler twice.
Mustafizur Rahman and Afif Hossain were the culprits on the first two occasions before Mahmudullah dropped the Sri Lankan skipper a run away from his hundred, third against Bangladesh, off Mustafiz.
Mahmudullah compensated later by taking a fine, diving catch at long on off young Shoriful Islam to dismiss Perera in the 40th over of the innings.
Perera already put Sri Lanka somewhat in control, forging some decent partnerships.
Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka laid the foundation for a big score putting 82-run in the opening stand before Bangladesh had their first success on the field.
Taskin Ahmed bowled Gunathilaka for 39 and had Pathum Nissanka caught by Mushfiqur Rahim for a duck in the same over.
Perera shared 69-run with Kusal Mendis and 65-run with Dhananjaya de Silva (55 not out) for the third and fourth wicket respectively put Sri Lanka back on track after Taskin’s double
Bangladesh did well in the last 10 overs giving away just 69 runs to keep the target within the reach.
Taskin, one of the two changes for Bangladesh in the match, finished with figures of 4-46.
