Here is how the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League points table looks like after BANvSL 3rd ODI

Inspirational efforts from Dushmantha Chameera, who bagged his maiden fifer, and skipper Kusal Perera, who scored his 6^th ODI ton, evaded the clean-sweep threat that loomed large over Sri Lanka going into the third and final fixture of the series. By the end of it, however, not only did Sri Lanka managed to close the series with a 1-2 scoreline, but also managed to open their account in the ODI Super League.

Having won the toss, Perera had zero hesitation in opting to bat and the decision paid off instantaneously as Sri Lanka made the best start of the series, with Perera and Gunathilaka adding 82 off just 68 for the first wicket. That was when Taskin Ahmed landed two blows, claiming wickets of Gunathilaka and Pathum Nissanka in a space of four balls to dent Sri Lanka’s brisk beginning.

Perera, de Silva guide Sri Lanka to 286

As skipper Perera held his end up, both Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva ensured with two 60-plus stands alongside him that the team did not repeat a depressing middle-order fumble that was the definition of the previous two games. Mendis contently played second fiddle before Ahmed struck for the third time to remove him, while de Silva notched up his 6^th half-century and remained unbeaten on 55.

Perera’s 120-run knock, which included 11 fours and a six in all, was not chanceless. He was dropped no less than three times, including once on 99. But he ensured that Sri Lanka posted a substantial and match-winning total of 286/6, riding on each of those opportunities.

Chasing 287, Bangladesh never quite got going to their liking with Chameera rattling their top-order inside the powerplay to quash any hopes of approaching the chase easily. He struck on the first ball of his spell to send back Mohammad Naim and returned to account for Shakib Al Hasan in the next over to ensure that Bangladesh’s most priced player had a series to forget.

Bangladesh surrenders in chase

Once Tamim Iqbal fell in the 9^th over as Chameera’s third, all hopes, for the third time in as many games, came down on Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh steadied for a while as Rahim and Mosaddek Hossain partnered for a 56-run stand, however, not getting the pace of scoring at par with the required run rate meant that the pressure kept mounting over both of them.

With a half-century and century at his back, Rahim could not repeat his heroics, falling to Ramesh Mendis after a boundary-less 54-ball outing for 28 runs. Mahmudullah fought back with a 63-ball 53, as did Hossain, scoring 51 off 72, although the mounting pressure eventually crushed Bangladesh. Mendis sent back Hossain in the 31^st over to land a death blow on the hosts, and even though Mahmudullah tried to keep the chase on, all he could do was mitigate the margin of loss.

Chameera, meanwhile, returned in his second spell and claimed another couple of scalps to end with staggering figures of 5/16 from a nine-over spell as Sri Lanka wiped clean Bangladesh for 189, clinching the game by 97 runs. Despite a massive loss, this is the first instance of Bangladesh winning an ODI series against their Asia rivals.

Here is the updated ICC ODI Super League Points Table