Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Lahiru Thirimanne made merry against an insipid Bangladesh bowling attack to plunder a huge 332 for one in the 18th match of Pool A in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Melbourne. Dilshan scored his 21st ODI century, while Sangakkara — playing his 400th ODI — scored a scorching ton. Live Scorecard:Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Match 16 at Melbourne
While Afghanistan beat Scotland in an emotional, exhilarating one-wicket victory at Dunedin, Dilshan and Sangakkara showed just how one-sided a match between two full member nations could be. If Ireland, Afghanistan, UAE, and Scotland have shown admirable determination on the field, Bangladesh took a step backward with a horrendous fielding display. It started in the first over itself, with Anamul Haque dropping Thirimanne at slip. Thirimanne then survived a clean stumping, before Sangakkara was dropped at point. Live Updates: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Match 16 at Melbourne
Bangladesh veered between competent and abysmal with the ball as well. Taskin Ahmed bowled at a fair clip, but was put to the sword by Dilshan, while Rubel started well only to leak runs later on. Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan were the only two bowlers to be spared, as the others took an absolute pasting. Top 10 batsmen in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Thirimanne started nervously, but soon opened up and played some delightful drives. There were multiple occasions when a casual observer would be spared for thinking it was Sangakkara in the middle, with the type of flowing cover drives that he played during his innings of 52. Dilshan was brutal at the other end, essaying some ferocious cuts and pulls that demoralised the bowlers en route to his 21st ODI century. Once Sangakkara came in, the run-rate soared upward. Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Sangakkara brought out all trademark shots; there was the down-on-one-knee cover drive, the lofted drive over cover, the pull, the ramp over third man, and the flick, among others. He raced away to his 22nd ODI ton off only 73 balls — his fastest ODI ton ever — as Sri Lanka sailed past 300. In the end, the Sri Lankan batting might proved too much for Bangladesh’s bowlers to handle. Top 10 fielders in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 332 for 1 in 50 overs (Lahiru Thirimanne 52, Tillekaratne Dilshan 161*, Kumar Sangakkara 105*; Rubel Hossain 1 for 62) vs Bangladesh.
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(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)
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