The severity of the situation gradually eased from Thursday evening, when it receded in the north and east of the country
Sri Lanka avoided being swept by Bangladesh in their one-day international series when it won the third match by 97 runs with a Kusal Perera century and Dushmantha Chameera’s maiden five-for on Friday.
Perera struck a 122-ball 120, including 11 fours and one six, to lead Sri Lanka to a respectable 286-6. The fast bowler Chameera then took 5-16 to undermine the reply by Bangladesh, which was all out for 189 in 42.3 overs.
The victory marked Sri Lanka’s first in the ODI Super League.
Captain Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka opened with an 82-run stand after they won the toss.
Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who claimed 4-46, brought the home side back in contention with a double strike, dismissing Gunathilaka for 39 and Pathum Nissanka for 0.
Perera drove Taskin to sweeper cover for a single in a bulletproof 50 off 44 balls, but the skipper needed luck three times to reach his sixth ODI century.
He was dropped on 66 by Mustafizur Rahman at short third man, dropped on 79 by Afif Hossain at long on off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, and dropped on 99 by Mahmudullah at mid on off fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman.
Perera finally reached the century off 99 balls with a single off Mustafizur.
Taskin, meanwhile, claimed Kusal Mendis for 22, with a slower delivery, to end a 59-run partnership between him and Perera.
Pacer Shoriful Islam, who was wayward in his first spell, came back strongly in his second spell to dismiss Perera with a back-of-length delivery.
The Bangladesh bowlers regrouped to stall Sri Lanka in the last overs, utilizing the slower delivery well, though Dhananjaya de Silva escaped them with 55 not out off 70 balls.
The Bangladesh batsman, however, struggled from the start.
Chameera grabbed opener Naim Sheikh (1), playing instead of Liton Das, and Shakib Al Hasan (4). Skipper Tamim Iqbal nicked Chameera’s slower delivery behind to reduce the home side to 28-3 in 10th over.
Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 84 and 125 in the previous ODIs, played rash shot to be out for 28, giving offspinner Ramesh Mendis his debut ODI wicket.
A 56-run stand between Mushfiqur and Mosaddek Hossain offered Bangladesh some hope, but when Mosaddek was out for 51 off 72 balls while trying to reverse-sweep Mendis, Bangladesh was all but out of the game at 125-5 in the 32nd over.
Mahmudullah batted on for 53 off 63 until he was last out.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka
Danushka Gunathilaka b Taskin 39
Kusal Perera c Mahmudullah b Shoriful 120
Pathum Nissanka c Rahim b Taskin 0
Kusal Mendis c Tamim b Taskin 22
Dhananjaya de Silva not out 55
Niroshan Dickwella run out (Shoriful) 7
Wanindu Hasaranga c Mehidy b Taskin 18
Ramesh Mendis not out 8
Extras (lb 9, w7, nb1) 17
Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 286
Fall of wickets: 1-82 (Gunathilaka), 2-82 (Nissanka), 3-151 (Mendis), 4-216 (Perera), 5-231 (Dickwella), 6-266 (Hasaranga)
Did not bat: Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera
Bowling: Shoriful 8-0-56-1 (w1, nb1), Mehidy 10-0-48-0 (w1), Mosaddek 3-0-32-0, Taskin 9-0-46-4 (w3), Mustafizur 10-0-47-0 (w2), Shakib 10-0-48-0
Bangladesh (target 287)
Tamim Iqbal c Dickwella b Chameera 17
Mohammad Naim c Mendis b Chameera 1
Shakib Al Hasan c Mendis b Chameera 4
Mushfiqur Rahim c de Silva b Mendis 28
Mosaddek Hossain c Fernando b Mendis 51
Mahmudullah Riyad c Dickwella b Fernando 53
Afif Hossain c Chameera b Wanindu Hasaranga 16
Mehidy Hasan Miraz c Gunathilaka b Chameera 0
Taskin Ahmed b Chameera 0
Shoriful Islam c Dickwella b Hasaranga 8
Mustafizur Rahman not out 0
Extras (b4, lb1, w6) 11
Total (all out; 42.3 overs) 189
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Naim), 2-9 (Shakib Al Hasan), 3-28 (Tamim) 4-84 (Mushfiqur), 5-125 (Mosaddek), 6-158 (Afif Hossain), 7-162 (Mehidy), 8-162 (Taskin), 9-181 (Shoriful), 10-189 (Mahmudullah)
Bowling: De Silva 4-0-14-0 (w1), Chameera 9-1-16-5, Fernando 6.3-0-33-1, Karunaratne 6-0-34-0 (w2), Hasaranga 10-0-47-2, Mendis 7-0-40-2 (w3)
Result: Sri Lanka won by 97 runs
Series Result: Bangladesh won the three-match series 2-1
Toss: Sri Lanka
Umpires: Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN), Tanvir Ahmed (BAN)
TV Umpire: Gazi Sohel (BAN)
Match Referee: Neeyamur Rashid (BAN)
The severity of the situation gradually eased from Thursday evening, when it receded in the north and east of the country
Cyclone Hidaya is predicted to cause torrential rain, strong winds and powerful and dangerous waves in the flood-ravaged country
Dror Or's wife Yonat was killed in the October 7 attack and two of their three children were abducted and then freed in November
Lawyer Deepak Bikram Mishra, who filed a petition urging the court to curtail climbing permits back in 2019, confirmed
Foreign ministry says the new curbs on four settlers and two groups follow "unprecedented rise" in settler violence over the past year
Heavy rains had been pounding the country since midnight on Thursday, prompting authorities to temporarily suspend the service
Sciences Po university authorities give the group of students 20 minutes to leave before forcible evacuation
The attacking midfielder joins a roll call of famous names including Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, George Best and Kenny Dalglish