Concussion substitute Tanzid Hasan hammered 84 off 81 balls to help Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in the third one-day international and seal a 2-1 victory in the series on Monday.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka posted 235 all out in exactly 50 overs courtesy of Janith Liyanage’s 101 off 102 balls for his maiden century.
Soumya Sarkar, who felt neck stiffness and complained of a headache and vision difficulties after his head hit the ground while saving a boundary, was substituted by Tanzid and the replacement proved his worth with an innings laced with nine fours and four sixes to see Bangladesh home with 9.4 overs left.
After Tanzid’s fluent start, Rishad Hossain — one of the three changes made by Bangladesh for the match — struck an unbeaten 18-ball 48 containing five fours and four sixes to steer the hosts to 237-6.
Bangladesh won the first match of the series by six wickets before Sri Lanka levelled with a three-wicket victory, leaving a decider.
Tanzid and Anamul Haque, who replaced the out-of-form Liton Das, added 50 runs for the opening stand, with Tanzid dominating the partnership.
Pacer Lahiru Kumara, who grabbed a career-best 4-48, removed Haque (12) and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (1) in consecutive overs to put the Sri Lanka on the front foot protecting an under-par score.
Kumara also broke the 49-run partnership between Tanzid and Towhid Hridoy when he undid the latter with extra bounce after he scored 22 and then removed Mahmudullah (1) with a back-of-the-length delivery in his next over to leave Bangladesh at 113-4 in the 24th over.
When leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga had Tanzid caught by Charith Asalanka at long-on after building pressure on him with a series of dot balls, Sri Lanka got a ray of hope with Bangladesh at 130-5.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan put on 48 runs before Hasaranga (2-64) again struck with the wicket of Mehidy (25), but Rishad’s brutal attack hastened the victory to seal Bangladesh’s second straight ODI series win against Sri Lanka.
The ODI series will be followed by two Test matches.