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July 20, 2007 (Link to Scorecard)

Murali or no Murali, Bangladesh batting faced yet another collapse. An ideal situation was there for the Bangladeshi batsmen, facing a not so difficult target of 235 against an attack that didn't feature Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan. The start was also an ideal one from the Bangladeshi openers with 45 runs put on the board but then the usual collapse started and the Bangladeshis were sent packing their bags by a fiery Dilhara Fernando.

Sri Lanka have won this first One Dayer at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo by a comfortable margin of 70 runs. Asked to bat first under damp conditions, Sri Lanka managed to get to 234 for 6. They were off to a sluggish start with the batsmen not able to play their strokes freely. Sanath Jayasuriya was the first to go after looking dangerous with his 21 with two fours and a six. Sangakkara and Skipper Jayawardene failed after a long time leaving the responsibility on opener Upul Tharanga. Chamara Silva has been performing well when his team has been in a crisis and today as well he didn't fail in that role. With Tharanga, Silva added 88 runs that laid the foundation.

Upul Tharanga played the sheet anchor's role getting his 57 runs from as many as 104 balls with seven fours. Chamara Silva also notched up a half century, getting a well paced 65 from 76 with 8 fours and a six. Sri Lanka finished at 234 for 6 with Bangladeshis bowling very well in the final ten overs. Jehan Mubarak coming in at an unusual position of no.7 came up with an unbeaten 22 from 20 and Maharoof with a six could give some final touches. Mortaza had bowled superbly for his figures of 2 for 31 in his 10 while Rasel got 2 for 43 in his 10.

In their chase, the Tigers started with the two aggressive Tamim Iqbal and Shahriar Nafees. The two left handers didn't go in their flashy ways but played the waiting game. Sri Lanka had to work hard for their first wicket which came in the 12th over when Dilhara had one to slant across and find the edge off Tamim Iqbal (11). Just four balls later, Tushar Imran was done in by pace and swing off a full delivery from the same bowler that began the slide. From 45 for no loss, Bangladesh batted themselves out of the match at 76 for 6. Skipper Ashraful was one of the four victims that Dilhara had gone. For Ashraful it was a soft dismissal as he top edged a pull off this fast bowler not for the first time. Bangladesh were bowled out in 40.3 overs for 164. They could get there because of two identical innings from Farhad Reza and Abdur Razzak, both getting 28 runs each with three sixes in their innings. Dilhara Fernando was the Man of the Match for his figures of 4 for 24 from 9 overs. 

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