Colombo: Angelo Mathews scored 87 runs Wednesday to inspire Sri Lanka to its first one-day international series sweep in more than three years, defeating Bangladesh by 122 runs in the third and final match.
Sri Lanka’s last sweep was a 2-0 series win at in Ireland in June 2016. Choosing to bat after winning the toss, Sri Lanka made 294 for eight in 50 overs, riding on the innings of Mathews. He was well backed by Kusal Mendis who made 54. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne (46) and Kusal Perera (42) also made useful contributions. Fast-medium bowler Soumya Sarkar took three for 56 while Shafiul Islam had three for 68 for Bangladesh. Sarkar also shone with the bat, top scoring with 69 runs, but a dismal show from the other batsmen resulted in Bangladesh being dismissed for 172 runs with 14 overs to spare. Dimuth Karunaratne and Avishka Fernando opened batting for Sri Lanka but their stand did not last long when Fernando, who top scored with 82 runs in the second match, was out for six runs, trapped lbw by seamer Shafiul Islam. Karunaratne and No. 3 batsman Kusal Perera shared 83 runs for the second wicket in 95 balls before Karunaratne (46) was caught by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim trying to scoop left-arm spinet Tailjul Islam. (AP)
