Tigers repay Tharanga

It is generally thought that unless there are extenuating circumstances, it is always better to win the toss and bat first. The Sinhalese Sports Club ground is a venue where the toss does not much matter, but it was a lucky one to lose yesterday. Before the third ODI between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the winner of the toss had lost the match 28 out of 52 times.

It became 29 out of 53 after Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza won the toss and elected to field, which according to Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga would have been the home team's choice. Both captains had thought the grass on the pitch would favour their three seamers early on and the rain forecast for the evening may have swayed the decision too.

In the end, it neither seamed nor rained, and on a belter of a wicket Bangladesh were all out for 210 to lose the match by 70 runs. Sri Lanka avoided the unwanted distinction of being the first team in a decade to go through a home ODI series winless and shared the series 1-1.

"The ball does something here in the first hour or so. We wanted to bowl first as well," said Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga at the post-match press conference yesterday. "It was a good toss to lose in the end. We made the same mistake in Dambulla and this time Bangladesh made the same mistake here."

That gives the series a nice symmetry, reflecting the closeness of the two sides in terms of quality. Bangladesh won the first match by 90 runs and the second was washed out. While Sri Lanka did Bangladesh a favour in the first ODI after winning the toss, in hindsight Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza returned it yesterday.

Even though the series was drawn 1-1, the hosts should feel that they held the edge as they scored 311 before the second ODI was washed out. "[It was] Unfortunate that the second game was rained off. We could have won the series as chasing 300 runs in Sri Lanka is not easy."

A lot of the credit for yesterday's game should go to Bangladesh's perennial thorn, player-of-the-match Thisara Perera, who hit his second 50 of the series to propel Sri Lanka to 280 after Bangladesh had reined things in from 76 without loss in the first 10 overs to 203 for five after 40.

“We had a very good start and the momentum was lost after the two run outs. But I thought Thisara Perera was exceptional today. He showed a lot of maturity during his knock. He took his time and finished the innings well."