Sri Lanka 2-238 (Tillakaratne Dilshan 113*, Kumar Sangakkara 63, Sohag Gazi 1-46) beat Bangladesh 8-259 (Tamim Iqbal 112, Nasir Hossain 73*, Angelo Mathews 2-36) by eight wickets.

A scintillating century by Tillakaratne Dilshan well supported by Kumar Sangakkara assisted Sri Lanka to win the first ODI vs. Bangladesh by a huge margin.

Bangladesh scored 259 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Sri Lanka was handed over a new target of 238 runs off 41 overs due to the lights and the home side hammered the required runs in 35.4overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his brilliant unbeaten knock of 113 runs.

The first One Day International of the three match series was played on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota.

Earlier, Angelo Mathews, the skipper of Sri Lanka, won the toss and invited Bangladesh to bat first. Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque opened the innings for the tourists reasonably well by scoring 25 runs in the first five overs. The score was taken to 44 in 7.4 overs when Anamul Haque was clean bowled by Thisara Perera for 13 and the Islanders got two quick wickets with the addition of 19 runs to the total. Mahmudullah joined in next with Tamim Iqbal who was batting well with occasional boundaries.

Mahmudullah hit 3 fours in the process as Tamim Iqbal reached his fifty in the 23^rd over with another four. The latter was dropped at 54 by Mathews off Thisara Perera as Mahmudullah was caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara off Mathews for 29 as the score touched 129 in 28.5 overs. The young gun of the Bengal Tigers, Nasir Hossain, got together with Tamim Iqbal next and they kept the score board moving. Tamim Iqbal smashed his fourth ODI century on the last ball of the 41^st over with a four and that was the first ever hundred scored in an ODI by a Bangladeshi batsman in Sri Lanka.

Nasir Hossain hit the first six of his innings in the next over whereas Tamim Iqbal hit another in the following over. Tamim Iqbal was unluckily run out for 112 off 136 balls with 1 six and 10 fours. Nasir Hossain took command of the game as the wickets from the other end kept on falling. He attained his fourth ODI half century in the 47^th over and added 14 runs in the next over with 1 six and 2 fours. Nasir Hossain stood firm at his end for 73 off just 59 deliveries comprising 3 lofty sixes and 6 fours as the Bengal Tigers scored 259 runs with two wickets in hand at the end of the 50^th over.

Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews were the top wicket takers with two wickets each whereas Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera and Sachithra Senanayake shared one wicket each.

The match was reduced to 41 overs due to the lights problem and the Lankan Lions were given a revised target of 238 runs. Kushal janith Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan started the innings briskly as the first hit 2 fours followed by 5 by the latter in the first three overs. The pair kept on punishing the rival bowlers at will and dispatched 6 fours in the next three overs as Perera hit the first six of the innings in the seventh. Dilshan rushed to his fifty on the 32^nd ball and the first hundred of the innings also appeared on board.

Kushal Janith Perera was caught at first slip by Nasir Hossain off Sohag Gazi for 42 from 35 balls with 1 six and 5 fours. Kumar Sangakkara got together with Dilshan and they maintained the required run rate without any problem. The batsmen were unable to hit any four from 18^th to 24^th over but kept on crawling as Sangakkara sent the ball rolling out of the fence in the next over. Dilshan got two back to back fours in the 28^th over as Sangakkara secured his end while adding a few runs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan plundered his 15^th ODI hundred in the 31^st over as the score went past the 200 runs mark as well. Kumar Sangakkara hit 2 more boundaries in the 33^rd over that resulted in his 75^th ODI fifty and was caught at third man by Ziaur Rahman off Rubel Hossain for 63 from 68 with 6 fours. Tillakaratne Dilshan remained unbeaten for 113 off 108 balls with 11 fours as the Islanders thrashed 238 runs for the loss of just two wickets and 32 deliveries to spare.

Sri Lanka won the first ODI by a big margin of eight wickets and leads the three match series 1-0. The second game will be played on March 25, 2013, at the same venue.