Splendid performances from Nuwan Kulasekara and Kusal Mendis allowed Sri Lanka to end their winless run of seven matches in ODIs as they defeated Bangladesh by 70 runs in the third and final ODI of the series at SSC here on Saturday.
Chasing a target of 281, Bangladesh were bundled out for 210 inside 45 overs. With Sri Lanka's victory, the three-match series got leveled at 1-1 as the second match was abandoned due to rain.
Shakib Al Hasan (54) and Mehedi Hasan (51) tried their best to win the game for their team but Sri Lankan bowlers didn't allow them to chase down the target. The target of 281 started to look very big as Bangladesh were reduced to 11/3 with Kulasekara and Lakmal bowling splendidly well in the beginning.
Kulasekara was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts as he finished with the figures of 4-37. He was well supported by Suranga Lakmal (2-38), Dilruwan Perera (2-47) and Seekkuge Prasanna (2-33).
Earlier, Sri Lanka rode on the innings of Kusal Mendis (54) and Thisara Perera (52) to post a competitive score of 280-9 in their stipulated quota of 50 overs.
Thisara was adjudged the Man of the Match and Kusal Mendis was named Man of the Series.