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Led by a fluent century by Upul Tharanga, Sri Lanka started their Champions Trophy campaign in fine style beating Bangladesh by 37 runs in the first qualifying match here at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday.

Tharanga’s 129-ball 105, coupled with vital contributions from all the Sri Lankan top-order batsmen, lifted them to an imposing 302, a target that was well beyond Bangladesh, who lost early wickets but managed to lift themselves to 265.

Bangladesh’s only triumph against Sri Lanka in ODIs came earlier this year, but from the start it was apparent that another upset today was highly unlikely. Habibul Bashar’s decision to field first was based on the unusual amount of grass on the pitch and the dew factor later in the evening, but none of the Bangladesh bowlers made much impression in the afternoon, though Mohammad Rafique kept the runs in check.

Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers, on the other hand, extracted plenty of bounce and movement under lights, and though Aftab Ahmed and Farhad Reza biffed 30s and Saqibul Hasan, the left-handed batsman, managed his maiden ODI half-century, there was never any doubt about which way the match would go.

The key to the Sri Lankan innings was regular partnerships for each wicket, with Tharanga being the common factor: with Sanath Jayasuriya he added 67 for the opening wicket; with Mahela Jayawardene, he added 63 more in a mere nine overs; Kumar Sangakkara then came in for a 63-run third wicket stand; and Marvan Atapattu put together 51 for the fourth.

Scoreboard

Bangladesh won toss

Sri Lanka

W U Tharanga b Mortaza 105

S T Jayasuriya lbw b Rasel 31

*D P M D Jayawardene c Aftab b Razzak 35

†K C Sangakkara c Mortaza b Rafique 22

M S Atapattu c Farhad b Rasel 40

T M Dilshan not out 26

M F Maharoof run out (Farhad) 0

W P U J C Vaas c Farhad b Razzak 4

M Muralitharan run out (Mortaza) 11

S L Malinga not out 7

Extras (b1, lb4, w16) 21

Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 302

Did not bat: C R D Fernando

Fall: 1-67, 2-130, 3-193, 4-244, 5-260, 6-262, 7-273, 8-295

Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-0-60-1 (5w); Syed Rasel 10-0-65-2 (2w); Farhad Reza 8-0-63-0 (2w); Abdur Razzak 10-0-49-2 (2w); Mohammad Rafique 10-0-37-1; Saqibul Hasan 2-0-23-0 (1w)

Bangladesh

Shahriar Nafees c S’akkara b Vaas 5

Mohammad Ashraful c S’kkara b Fernando 18

Aftab Ahmed c S’kkara b Maharoof 33

Saqibul Hasan not out 67

*Habibul Bashar c J’wardene b Maharoof 0

Farhad Reza st S’kkara b M’tharan 34

†Khaled Mashud run out (Jayawardene) 8

Mohammad Rafique c Vaas b J’suriya 12

Mashrafe Mortaza b Vaas 29

Abdur Razzak b Maharoof 21

Syed Rasel not out 1

Extras (b4, lb6, w21, nb6) 37

Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 265

Fall: 1-22, 2-55, 3-78, 4-78, 5-141, 6-155, 7-177, 8-226, 9-264

Bowling: Vaas 10-2-46-2 (3w); Malinga 10-1-25-0 (4w); Fernando 4-0-38-1 (4nb, 3w); Maharoof 8-0-58-3; Muralitharan 10-0-43-1 (2nb, 2w); Jayasuriya 8-0-45-1 (1w)

Result: Sri Lanka won by 37 runs

Man of the Match: Upul Tharanga

Umpires: S A Bucknor (West Indies) and D J Harper (Australia). TV umpire: S J A Taufel (Australia). Match referee: M J Procter (South Africa)
Source:The News