Bangladesh will be looking to seal their maiden series over Sri Lanka when the two sides face-off in the third and final ODI of the series at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy today.听
The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time and T Sports will telecast it live.听
After losing the first ODI following a shocking batting collapse, Mehidy Hasan Miraz-led team levelled the series 1-1 by clinching a thrilling 16-run win in the second game.听
This would be Bangladesh鈥檚 only second three-match ODI series win after losing the first game, having previously beaten South Africa in 2015 after trailing 1-0.听
Bangladesh, who have been struggling in the 50-over format, lost their last two bilateral series.听
However, they won the previous two series over Sri Lanka, both by 2-1 at home, and would look to keep that record intact.听
Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam, in only the second match of his career, was the star performer in the Tigers win with 5-39.听
He became only the fourth Bangladeshi spinner to take a five-wicket haul in an away ODI after Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan, and Taijul Islam.听
There were contributions from Parvez Hossain and Towhid Hridoy in the batting as both hit fifties, while Tanzim Hasan played a crucial role with his 33-run cameo.
However, big innings from the middle order will be vital in today鈥檚 game as the Bangladeshi batters have been struggling to capitalise on the good starts.听
Former captain Najmul Hossain Shanto threw his wickets away in both matches as he made 23 and 14, respectively.听
Mehidy, the new captain, promoted himself to number five in the last game after batting at six in the first one. But he is yet to touch the double figures.听
In the first two games, Bangladesh failed to play the allotted 50 overs, but Mehidy hoped to improve on that in the decider.
鈥榃e haven't been able to bat fifty overs in the first two ODIs,鈥� said the Bangladesh captain after the second match.听
鈥楾here were a couple of run-outs, which definitely shifted the momentum from us. We also lost a cluster of wickets in the last few ten overs. I hope everyone is looking for improvement.鈥�
Weather would also be the key, as the last five ODIs at this venue were shortened due to rain, though all those matches were held in the later part of the year. The latest of those matches had to be abandoned.听
Typically, Pallekele tends to be a batting-friendly surface, as the average runs per six balls is 5.50. But the pacers also generally play key roles in bowling, as they took around 57.77 per cent of the total wickets here.听
Keeping that in mind, Bangladesh might bring back Taskin Ahmed, who didn鈥檛 feature in the last match as the team management remained cautious with the pacer who just came back from an injury.听
On the other hand, Sri Lanka鈥檚 record at Pallekele is strong, as they lost just one of the last nine completed ODIs at the ground.听
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