Sri Lanka take on Bangladesh in the final One Day International of the three-match series at the Sinhalese Sports Club Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
The visitors are 1-0 up in the series and they are targeting their first-ever ODI series win against the struggling hosts, who were unlucky on Tuesday as rain washed the second ODI away after they had posted 311 on board.
Sri Lanka would have felt relieved when Kusal Mendis scored a run-a-ball ton at the top of the order on Tuesday after their batting failure in Dambulla in the first ODI. Skipper Upul Tharanga scored a patient 65 as well and Milinda Siriwardana, Asela Gunaratne along with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal chipped in with handy knocks.
It will be important for the top-order to stand up and deliver in the crunch game, especially in the absence of their reliable middle-order batsman Angelo Mathews. Sri Lanka would have rued the washout on Tuesday as no team has ever chased more than 300 in ODIs in the island nation.
On the other hand, buoyed by their recent success at home, Bangladesh would want to clinch an away win and move further up the ICC ladder. Having shed the tag of Asian minnows, Mashrafe Mortaza's men are well placed to defeat Sri Lanka at the latter's backyard.
The batsmen are piling up runs for the team and all-rounder Shakib Al Hassan's contribution has played a crucial part to their success. With the pitch at SSC expected to be on the slower side, the left-arm slow bowler along with Mehedi Hasan Miraz should trouble the Sri Lankan batsmen. Since the SSC has not hosted an ODI in six year, coach Chandika Hathurusingha's local knowledge should help the visitors, who are eyeing history.
Sri Lanka
Possible XI: Tharanga (c), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Chandimal (wk), Siriwardane, Gunaratne, Perera, Dilruwan, Pradeep, Kulasekara, Sandakan
Bangladesh
Possible XI: Mortaza (c), Tamim, Sarkar, Sabbir, Mahmudullah, Shakib, Mosaddek, Mushfiqur (wk), Mehedi, Taskin, Mustafizur
TV Schedule
Bangladesh: BTV
Sri Lanka: Ten 3
Pakistan: PTV Sports
Middle East: OSN Channel 613
India: Ten 3
US: Willow TV
