Shanto ton propels Tigers

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto stepped up and smashed his third ODI ton — a career-best 122 off 129 deliveries — to help the Tigers recover from a slump and seal a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first of the three ODIs at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.

Even though the Tigers chased down the 256-run target with 32 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the series, they did it by following the same old script of suffering a top-order meltdown and leaving things to be mended by the middle-order batters.

It took a 165-run fifth-wicket stand — the second-highest stand for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in ODIs — between Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim to see the Tigers over the line. With 13 fours and two maximums, Shanto led the way for the Tigers with Mushfiqur complementing him with a 73-run unbeaten knock, laced with eight boundaries.

Bangladesh’s star opener Liton Das extended his poor run of form, getting dismissed for a golden duck in the very first delivery of the Tigers’ innings. Soon Bangladesh found themselves in deep waters, losing three for 23 in just 5.1 overs, with Soumya Sarkar (3 off 9) throwing his wicket away before Towhid Hridoy’s (3 off 8) defence was breached by Sri Lanka pacer Pramod Madushan.

Shanto, who had walked in at number three right after Liton was removed by Dilshan Madushanka, then slowly started the repair work with experienced campaigner Mahmudullah Riyad. The Shanto-Riyad duo stitched together a 69-run fourth-wicket stand as the Tigers slowly crawled back into the game.

Just when things started to look brighter for Bangladesh, a brilliant catch in the outfield by Madushanka when Riyad top-edged a Lahiru Kumara delivery in the 16th over provided the visitors a real chance of taking the game away.

However, Shanto and Mushfiqur, who smashed his 49th fifty, displayed grit and character as they never allowed the Lankans to rear their heads back into the contest.

While Mushfiqur was flawless against the spin threat of leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, Shanto seemed to be adamant about leading his side all the way over the finishing line.

Earlier, Sri Lanka, having elected to bat first, had gotten off to a smooth start with a 71-run opening stand between Avishka Fernando and Pathum Nissanka. However, pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib scalped three quick wickets to swing the momentum back towards the hosts before the Bangladesh bowlers eventually tightened the grip to bundle Sri Lanka out for 255 in 48.5 overs.

For Bangladesh, Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, and Shoriful Islam took three wickets each while spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz scalped just one wicket but was key to stopping the Lankans’ run flow in the middle overs.