Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga commended skipper Charith Asalanka for his composed leadership and vital contribution with the bat, which steered the hosts to a dominant 77-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening ODI at Colombo on Thursday, 3 July.
Sri Lanka, having been reduced to 29 for 3 after a shaky start, managed to post 244 thanks largely to a superb knock from Asalanka. The left-hander played a captain’s innings, scoring his fifth ODI century — a fighting 106 off 123 balls featuring six boundaries and four maximums. With little support from the rest of the batting line-up, Asalanka stood firm and helped his side post a competitive total.
“He (Charith) goes around his business as a mature player and handles the middle situations well and gets the other batters to build partnerships,” said Hasaranga after match.
“He has a knack to get the best out of his batting partners and he has been key for our success and he has been amongst runs for us in the last 18 months or so. Every batter has started contributing for the team. That’s something that we didn’t have a few years ago. Why we are wining consistently nowadays is that the batters are doing their job and things are made easy for the bowlers,” Hasaranga added.
While Asalanka impressed with the bat, it was Hasaranga who shone with the ball. Bangladesh looked comfortable at 100 for 1 before the leg-spinner turned the tide, sparking a dramatic collapse as the visitors were bowled out for 167. Hasaranga finished with outstanding figures of 4 for 10 in 7.5 overs and also reached the milestone of 100 ODI wickets in the process.
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