Sri Lanka conquer Bangladesh with ease

Mahela Jayawardene, a late replacement in the side, and Tharanga slam centuries to go past the modest target of 250 with more than seven overs to spare.

DHAKA // Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene struck centuries as Sri Lanka romped to a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the tri-nation tournament today. Tharanga was unbeaten on 118 off 126 balls, smacking 18 fours for his eighth ODI century, while Jayawardene made 108 off 117 balls to help Sri Lanka race past Bangladesh's modest 249 for nine with more than seven overs to spare. Jayawardene was first to reach his hundred with a boundary through cover point and was finally caught by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off spinner Naeem Islam. The former captain, who joined the squad after Tillakaratne Dilshan suffered a groin injury, clubbed 13 fours for his 12th one-day century. Tharanga and Jayawardene shared 215 runs in the opening stand. Earlier Thisara Perera, Suraj Randiv and Nuwan Kulasakera grabbed two wickets apiece to dent Bangladesh. The hosts captain Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 47 while Roqibul Hasan and Imrul Kayes chipped in with 43 and 42 respectively. Bangladesh took their batting powerplay in the 43rd over with 199 runs for four wickets on the board but added only 32 runs and lost five wickets in the next five overs. Sri Lanka will face India in their next match on Sunday. * AP

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal lbw b Randiv 21 Imrul Kayes lbw b Perera 42 Mohammad Ashraful run out (Thushara) 13 Raqibul Hasan c Randiv b Perera 43 Shakib Al Hasan c Tharanga b Thushara 47 Mushfiqur Rahim c Bandara b Randiv 32 Mahmudullah not out 24 Naeem Islam b Kulasekara 5 Abdur Razzak run out Kulasekara 1 Rubel Hossain c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 0 Syed Rasel not out 7 Extras (1b, 13w) 14 Total: (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 249 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-73, 3-88, 4-165, 5-199, 6-211, 7-223, 8-227, 9-231. Bowling: Nuwan Kulasekara 10-1-48-2 (2w) Thilan Thushara 9-0-67-1 (5w) Suraj Randiv 10-1-40-2 Thissara Perera 10-0-32-2 (1w) Malinga Bandara 10-0-44-0 (1w) Thilan Samaraweera 1-0-17-0. Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga not out 118 Mahela Jayawardene c Rahim b Naeem 108 Kumar Sangakkara not out 17 Extras (1lb, 8w) 9 Total (one wicket, 42.5 overs) 252 Fall of wicket: 1-215 Bowling: Rasel 6-0-37-0 Rubel 8-0-59-0 (1w) Naeem 5-0-35-1 (1w) Shakib 8-2-27-0 (1w) Mahmudullah 2-0-16-0 Razzak 8-0-41-0 (4w) Ashraful 5-0-29-0 Tamim 0.5-0-7-0 (1w)