Nasir's hat-trick, Anamul's non-appeal

Of all the fielders in the Bangladesh team, Nasir Hossain has dropped one catch each in the three ODIs against Sri Lanka. On Saturday he spilled a chance at point, a difficult one diving forward. In the first match he spilled the chance at long-on while in the second game, he dropped one running in from deep square-leg. The batsmen who profited were Thisara Perera, Ashan Priyanjan and Lahiru Thirimanne, the last of whom couldn't capitalise on the chance offered.

Anamul Haque had been too enthusiastic behind the stumps, sometimes annoyingly so for the umpires. But when he held Dinesh Chandimal's edge off Rubel Hossain he didn't appeal. The bowler did, and umpire Rod Tucker agreed, but Anamul's reaction riled Rubel and some of his teammates. They surrounded him during celebrations, Rubel telling him that he should have appealed.

There has been a lot of comparison between the batting styles of Sanath Jayasuriya and Kusal Perera, both left-handed openers. Most of Perera's shots, particularly the jabs and pick-up shots, have more than just the shade of Jayasuriya. During his maiden ODI century, his fourth six, a superb pick-up shot over long-on off Shafiul Islam could have been mistaken for any of Jayasuriya's sixes in the 1990s.

Bangladesh have sorely missed Tamim Iqbal in the top-order.. Anamul Haque completed the alteration of one Bangladeshi opener failing in each game, all dismissals similar. He got out chasing a slightly wider delivery from Dhammika Prasad in the sixth over, reminiscent of Shamsur Rahman's edge to the slips in the second ODI and Anamul's footwork-less cut at the same bowler in the first game.

Naeem Islam was batting well until the second Powerplay got his head in a spin. He started to hack at everything, trying to mow down short, full and slower deliveries. During the five overs, Bangladesh scored just 23 runs, with a single boundary. Off the final ball of the fielding restrictions overs, he gave mid-off a simple catch in his final attempt to slog a bowler.

Lahiru Thirimanne fell for 18 runs, giving an easy catch at midwicket off Mahmudullah. This was his second try as an ODI opener, and it hasn't been a successful one once again. His first try was in his ODI debut, coincidentally in Mirpur, when he made just 22.