Tillakaratne Dilshan hammered an unbeaten 113 to fire Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in their first one-day international (ODI), marked by a power failure and bees’ invasion on Saturday.
The opener hit 11 fours in his 15th one-day century as Sri Lanka, chasing a revised target of 238 in 41 overs following the outage, won the day-night match in Hambantota with 32 balls to spare for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Dilshan also upstaged Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal, who scored an impressive 112 for his fourth one-day ton to prop up the innings, briefly halted by a swarm of bees in the afternoon that forced some of the players to lie on the ground.
The play was held up for more than 90 minutes due to the power failure, first during the Bangladeshi innings and then before the start of Sri Lanka’s chase.
The organizers apologized for the power failures, saying an investigation would soon be launched.
Sri Lanka got off to a flying start as Dilshan and Kushal Perera (42) put on 106 off just 12.1 overs for the opening wicket. Dilshan then added 128 for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (63).
“We were a bit complacent on the field and a bit wayward with the ball, but we covered it up with our batting,” Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews said. “Kushal is an absolute pleasure to watch. He has no fear and is a player to watch in future.”
Dilshan went for his shots from the beginning, hitting seamer Rubel Hossain for three successive fours and then smashing two boundaries in the next over off paceman Abul Hasan.
Perera also played some aggressive strokes, hitting one six and five fours in his 35-ball knock before being caught by Nasir Hossain in the slips off off-spinner Sohag Gazi.
Tamim, who became the first Bangladeshi to score a hundred against Sri Lanka in ODIs, hit one six and 10 fours to lead Bangladesh’s recovery after three wickets had fallen for 63 in the opening 13 overs.
Tamim put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Mahmudullah (29) and 75 for the next with Nasir, who cracked three sixes and six fours in his brisk 59-ball 73 not out.
Tamim, dropped 54 by Mathews off seamer Thisara Perera at mid-off, was run out in the 44th over, but not before helping his side post a competitive 259-8 off 50 overs.
Tamim, who later injured his thumb while fielding, was ruled out of the remaining two matches.
The second ODI will be played in Hambantota today.
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