Rajitha five-fer completes Bangladesh demolition

Kasun Rajitha’s five-fer got the job done for Sri Lanka on the fourth day as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series following a 328 run win.  Chasing an almost improbable 511, Bangladesh were already reeling at 47/5 by stumps on the third day. They only managed to add 135 runs on the fourth day before folding for 182.

Rajitha struck after just two overs into the day’s play by trapping Taijul Islam leg-before-wicket and thought he had Mehidy Hasan as well in the same over but only managed to burn a review. Mehidy and Mominul Haque hit a flurry of boundaries to keep the scorecard moving. With the boundaries coming thick and fast, Sri Lanka managed to waste another review in desperation.

The boundary-laden period finally came to an end when Rajitha managed to eke out an edge off Mehidy who found the fielder at second slip. Mominul was then left to wage a lone battle alongside the tail. While he helped himself to a half-century, Sri Lanka made inroads at the other end.

Rajitha, who came back into the attack, struck twice in succession. After dismissing Shoriful Islam for 12, he found the outside edge of Khaled Ahmed off the very next delivery to complete his five-fer. In a desperate bid to get to his century, Mominul opened up and smashed Prabath Jayasuriya for 6,4,4 to round off an over but Lahiru Kumara denied him the landmark by striking at the other end to complete the win and open Sri Lanka’s account in the WTC standings.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka280 (Kamindu Mendis 102, Dhananjaya de Silva 102; Khaled Ahmed 3/72)  and 418 (Kamindu Mendis 164, Dhananjaya de Silva 108; Mehidy Hasan 4/74) beat Bangladesh 188 (Taijul Islam 47; Vishwa Fernando 4/48)  and  182 (Mominul Haque 87*; Kasun Rajitha 5/56) by 328 runs