Lasith Malinga shone in his farewell match after Kusal Perera struck a quick-fire century as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by 91 runs in the first of the three-match One-Day International series here on Friday.
Malinga rattled Bangladesh with a fiery opening spell, reducing the visitors to 39 for four in the process, which pegged them back despite the best efforts by Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman.
Malinga (three for 38) started the mini-collapse by hitting the leg-stump of Tamim Iqbal with a deadly yorker when the Bangladesh skipper was yet to open the account.
Mushfiqur made 67 while Sabbir added 60 as the duo shared an 111-run partnership for the fifth wicket but Bangladesh stuttered to 223 all out in 41.4 overs replying to Sri Lanka’s 314 for eight.
Malinga claimed three for 38 while Nuwan Pradeep (three for 51) and Dhananjaya de Silva (two for 49) also played their part in the win.
Time to quit
“I feel it’s the right time for me to retire from ODIs. I have been playing for the last 15 years for Sri Lanka and this is the right time to move on,” Malinga, who finished his ODI career with 338 wickets, said after the game. “My time is over and I have to go.”
Earlier, Kusal Perera struck 111 (99b, 17×4, 1×6), his fifth ODI century, to set up Sri Lanka’s big total after Dimuth Karunaratne elected to bat.
Left-handed Perera put on 97 with Karunaratne for the second wicket before adding 100 with Kusal Mendis for the third. The second match will be held on Sunday.
