Ziaur heroics clinches thrilling win

Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy 128 for 9 (Kayes 45, Ziaur 35*, Prasanna 5-35) beat Sri Lanka Academy XI 127 (Serasinghe 43, Nasir 4-13, Ziaur 3-17) by one wicket
Scorecard

Last man Ziaur Rahman scored a blazing 16-ball 35 as Bangladesh Cricket Academy pulled off a one-wicket win over their Sri Lankan counterparts in the first one-dayer in Colombo. Ziaur, who took three wickets as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 127, came out with Bangladesh tottering at 85 for 9 but steered his team to victory with 43-run stand with Arafat Sunny, who made 14 off 32 balls.

Only four batsmen made it to double figures during Bangladesh's chase. Opener Imrul Kayes top scored with 45, but the rest stuttered as spin was introduced within the first five overs of their innings. Legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna had the visiting batsmen in a tizzy, reducing Bangladesh to 19 for 4 and completing his five-for to make it 39 for 5.

At the other end, Kayes patiently worked his way to 45, but was the seventh man to fall, out to Jeewan Mendis with Bangladesh on 66. Mendis and offspinner Sachithra Serasinghe took two wickets apiece - Serasinghe struck twice in the 34th over and finished his allotted ten overs with economical figures of 2 for 18. The hosts, though, failed to take the crucial final wicket as Sunny and Ziaur shared an unbroken 27-ball stand. Sri Lanka only gave six overs to their opening bowlers.

Bangladesh's bowlers had earlier fought back to restrict Sri Lanka to 127, taking nine wickets for 51 runs, after opener Serasinghe and captain Mendis shared a 62-run partnership for the second wicket. Three wickets fell with the score on 76 and the other batsmen failed to revive the innings. Offspinner Nasir Hossain took 4 for 13 in his ten overs. Ziaur, a medium-pacer, scalped three in 3.4 overs, while left-arm spinner Sunny bagged two, trapping Serasinghe leg-before.