Bangladesh were cruising. Sixteen overs into the chase they were 96 for 1, the required rate comfortable, the wicket looking true. Fast-bowler Taskin Ahmed admitted later he was already thinking ahead. “I was expecting we would win with five to seven overs in hand,” he said.
What followed felt almost unreal. From 100 for 2 they tumbled to 107 for 8, seven wickets disappearing for five runs. Debutant Milan Rathnayake’s direct-hit run-out of Najmul Hossain Shanto opened the door, Wanindu Hasaranga’s lbw a ball earlier had nudged it, and Sri Lanka never let Bangladesh push it shut again. “Those two wickets in one over was the turning point for them,” Taskin noted.
The surface never looked spiteful. Tanzid Hasan had moved smoothly to a run-a-ball 58, Shanto seemed settled, and later Jaker Ali’s 51 off 64 hinted at what was still possible. Taskin was blunt: “Yes, it’s accepted that we didn’t bat well, but seeing two or three guys bat on this wicket, it doesn’t feel like the wicket was that bad. That was our failure.”
So why the sudden breakdown? Taskin’s verdict was simple, if painful. “Yeah, after that great start, we were a bit relaxed that everything was going our way, and suddenly, that run-out and one of our set batters, Tamim, got out. Then we panicked a bit. We didn’t play our natural game, and under pressure, we collapsed. That’s how we lost this match.”
The numbers back him. Between overs 17 and 23 Bangladesh managed just seven runs while losing those seven wickets. Hasaranga’s variations, neatly backed up by Maheesh Theekshana, put the squeeze on, but most dismissals owed at least something to anxious footwork or a rushed stroke. The fielders sensed it too: Rathnayake’s alert pick-up and throw felt inevitable once Bangladesh’s running tightened.
Jaker Ali did what he could, farming the strike, nicking singles, finding the odd boundary. Yet without meaningful support the task stretched beyond him. Taskin felt two more partners might have been enough. “When Jaker got set, he was batting very well. He scored a fifty. With him, if we had two or three batters left, then we could have won the match.”
Sri Lanka will celebrate the discipline that created pressure, Bangladesh will pore over footage of a middle order freezing when calm was needed. There is little time to dwell – the second ODI is around the corner – but the lesson has been delivered sharply. Start brightly, finish brighter; and above all, keep the panic out of the dressing-room.
