Dhaka – Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s men must eye to seal the three-match series when Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Tuesday.The day-night match which will be the 40th ODI tussle between the two nations, starts at 3pm Bangladesh time.Bangladesh took the lead 1-0 in the series against the host Sri Lanka with a 90-run victory where Tamim Iqbal’s 127 played a major role to ensure the first ODI win in 2017, recording their third-highest ODI total 324 for 5 in the first match at the same venue on Saturday last.UNB agencyBefore Saturday, Bangladesh had won only one ODI in 15 attempts in Sri Lanka – and that, too, a rain-affected match that became a little chancy towards the end at Pallekele in March 2013. Now they have players in form, and have possibly become favourites on an away tour. Bangladesh have lost only once out of ten occasions in which they have scored more than 300 runs.Tigers captain Mashrafe said, “Our strength playing abroad has to be our batting. The batsmen should learn how to convert 50-60 into a hundred, which is what big teams do. We have to learn this continuously, and ensure that we keep doing this. Finishing is also an important matter, which has helped us get to that score.”Mentioning the batters performance in the 1st ODI, the captain said, “Sabbir missed out in the last game, but Tamim got to a big hundred. It makes winning easier when someone does that.”In the first match, Tamim assisted Sabbir Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan to fire quick half-centuries of 54 and 72 runs respectively.Mashrafe said that they (batters) are applying some of the lessons they learned from New Zealand, where they pushed the home side in the second and third ODIs with good starts but couldn’t win games.“We will improve slowly. Other teams also took time to win abroad. New Zealand was difficult for us but that experience will work for us here,” he said.Bangladesh may retain their winning combination for the 2nd ODI, although Mashrafe said he was not afraid to make changes if conditions demanded.The Tigers skipper thinking over a different combination, considering how much grass was left on the Dambulla pitch on the eve of the game.“We have (previously) broken our winning combination against India and South Africa in 2015. The wicket tomorrow may be different, so we have to keep that in mind.” Niroshan Dickwella was set to be available after suspension, only he has got himself injured and is now out of the series. Sri Lanka have drafted in off-spinner Dilruwan Perera in place of Dickwella, while also strengthening their fast-bowling options with the addition of Nuwan Pradeep and Nuwan Kulasekara to the squad.There is a chance one of these new additions will play – Kulasekara the most likely. There is also some concern about a niggle to Suranga Lakmal.The 3rd and last ODI of the series will be played at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on April 1.In their previous 39 ODI meetings, Bangladesh secured five wins and lost in 33 occasions while one match had seen no result.Since March 1986 to December 2016, Bangladesh played 321 ODIs while Sri Lanka played out 732 matches during this period. Sri Lanka played total 790 ODIs since June 1975.Bangladesh squad(possible): Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.Sri Lanka squad(possible): Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga (captain), Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Asela Gunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva/Sachith Pathirana, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal/Nuwan Pradeep, Nuwan Kulasekara and Lakshan Sandakan
