Dhaka – Bangladesh had to settle for a drawn series after conceding a 70-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the 3rd and last ODI at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Saturday. Chasing a target of 281 runs, Bangladesh fell well short getting dismissed for 210 in just 44.3 overs, despite Mehedi Hasan Miraz hitting a half century in his very first ODI innings, having made his debut in the format in the first match of the series.Miraz held his nerve to face 71 balls and fired six boundaries before being caught by skipper Upul Tharanga off Nuwan Kulasekara’s bowling at 209/9 in 44.1.Taskin Ahmed was the last batsman for Bangladesh, was caught by Asela Gunaratne off Nuwan Kulasekara bowling, scoring 14 runs off 27 balls with one four.UNB agencyAll-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was another big hitter with 54 off 62 balls, including seven boundaries.Soon after his 34th ODI half century, Shakib was caught by Danushka Gunathilaka off Dilruwan Perera’s bowling leaving the Tigers in a dire situation at 118/6 in 23.2 overs.After a poor start that saw Bangladesh 11/3 in 3.3 overs, Shakib and Soumya Sarker paired in the 4th wicket for 77 in 11.4 overs that recovered the innings a bit.But once that partnership was broken, the Tigers batters again seemed hell-bent to self-destruct as next four wickets — Soumya, Mosaddek Hossain, Shakib, Mahmudullah Riyad — were back to pavilion for 39 runs in 10.3 overs leaving the total at 127/7 in 25.4 oversSoumya fired the only six for Bangladesh in the innings and three boundaries on his way to 38 off 44 balls. He was stumped by Dinesh Chandimal off Dilruwan Perera’s bowling.Nuwan Kulasekara captured four wickets for economic 37 runs in 7.3 overs.Seekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal and Dilruwan Perera took two wickets each for 33, 38 and 47 runs respectively.Earlier, sent in to bat first, host Sri Lanka scored 280 for 9 in 50 overs where number 3 batsman Kusal Mendis hammered a fifty of 54 off 76 balls, including four boundaries, and number 7 batsman Thisara Perera added quick 52 off 40 balls, witnessing four boundaries and one six.Danushka Gunathilaka and skipper Upul Tharanga ensured a well of start for Sri Lanka keeping the Tigers bowlers barren up to 10.5 overs before Mehedi Hasan Miraz departed Gunathilaka from opening pair at 76/1.Dinesh Chandimal (21) was run out at 136/3 in 25.5 overs, after facing a ball off all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. Chandimal’s firm effort saw that the bat was plunked inside, but he lifted it even as both feet were in the air when the bails were dislodged. Taskin threw the ball from the deep point area while keeper Mushfiqur Rahim smartly did the rest.Player of the match: Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka) Player of the series: Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka),UNB
