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Following their winning start in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup with a win over Bangladesh, Sri Lanka went past South Africa to become the team with the second-best streak in the history of ODI cricket.
Maheesh Theekshana's spin magic and skipper Dasun Shanaka's breathtaking spell allowed Sri Lanka to comfortably claim the second-longest ODI win streak in their Asia Cup Super Four triumph against Bangladesh on Saturday, beating them by 21 runs. Now, Sri Lanka has 13 straight ODI wins, dating back to June 2023 till now. Previously, the second-best streak was in the hands of South Africa, who had won 12 matches between February to October 2005. The best winning streak in ODI cricket history is 21 wins by Australia, between January 2003 to May 2003. Coming to the match, Bangladesh opted to bowl first. After the early fall of Dimuth Karunaratne (18) at the score of 34, a 74-run stand between Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis took Sri Lanka to the 100-run mark. Nissanka scored 40 in 60 balls, with five fours. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Mendis had a brief partnership before Mendis was dismissed for 50 off 73 balls, with six fours and a six. SL was 164/5 and then Saadera went on to have a 60-run stand with skipper Dasun Shanaka (24), which took them past 200 runs. Sadeera scored 93 in 72 balls with eight fours and two sixes. SL reached 257/9 in their 50 overs. Hasan Mahmud (3/57) and Taskin Ahmed (3/62) were the pick of the bowlers for SL. Shoriful Islam (2/48) also took two wickets. In the chase of 258, Bangladesh had a solid start with a 55-run opening stand between Mohammad Naim (21 in 46 balls with a four) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (28 in 29 balls with four boundaries). Following this, Bangladesh was reduced to 83/4. Towhid Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim helped Bangladesh recover with their 72-run partnership, which broke with the dismissal of Rahim for 29. Hridoy kept fighting with the tailenders for a win, scoring 82 in 97 balls with seven fours and a six. Bangladesh was bundled out for 236 runs in 48.1 overs. Shanaka (3/28), Matheesha Pathirana (3/58) and Maheesh Theekshana (3/69) were the pick of the bowlers for SL. Matheesha Pathirana also took a wicket. Sadeera Samarawickrama took the 'Player of the Match' award for his half-century. (ANI)
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