Sri Lanka eye perfect farewell for Lasith Malinga

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, fresh from a mixed campaign at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, are aiming for a winning start to the three-match ODI series. Bangladesh appear very different to the side that played the World Cup: all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (out for personal reasons) and regular skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (injury) are the most notable absentees.

A lot will rely on Tamim Iqbal, the stand-in skipper, as Bangladesh eye their first ever series win on Sri Lankan soil.

Lasith Malinga will retire from ODI cricket after Sri Lanka's game against Bangladesh in Colombo this Friday.

As for Sri Lanka, they'll look to give a perfect farewell to Malinga, one of their most loved cricketers, in his final ODI appearance.

The last ODI between these two sides, the round-robin fixture at the World Cup, was washed out. In the opening game of the Asia Cup 2018 in UAE, Mushfiqur Rahim's 144 had powered Bangladesh to an emphatic 137-run win over Sri Lanka.

What they said

Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka captain: "If you take the World Cup, we did fairly well in patches. We know we need to find a wicket-taking bowler because Lasith Malinga is not available after this series. We need to find the bowlers who can take wickets in the middle and the early overs. I need some good youngsters, we need to groom some youngsters for the next World Cup."

Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh captain:  "I thought we had a pretty decent World Cup. There were a few games that we should have won. We, the cricketers also felt that we could have done more. I think that whoever plays the first one-day match they need to cash in on the opportunity."

Conditions

Thundery showers and light winds are expected in Colombo with even chances of rain throughout the day. Teams batting first have won four of the last five ODIs played at the stadium and hence the toss could be a crucial factor.

Team news

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Dhananjaya De Silva, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Nuwan Pradeep, 10 Akila Dhananjaya, 11 Lasith Malinga

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mohammad Mithun, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Mossadek Hossain 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Rubel Hossain