(MENAFN- Kora) Perera's unbeaten 80 off 57 balls lifted his side to a total of 180, despite failing to bat out their allotted 43 overs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur
The hosts fell 13 runs short despite appearing to be cruising at 114-2 in the first one-day international
Mathews, who played a key role with the ball as he took 3-21, praised Perera for his man-of-the-match performance
"He is one of the best all-rounders that we have. He has been winning us matches in the past few years with bat and ball, he is matured," he said of Perera
"He did it in the T20s in Chittagong, and he has improved quite rapidly. Hopefully he will continue to do the same thing in the future
"The way he batted was absolutely brilliant. When Thisara and Sachithra were batting, I thought we should get to at least 150 to give the bowlers some sort of chance
"He is matured now, he has been winning games with bat and ball.
Perera helped Sri Lanka recover from 67-8 as he combined for an 82-run stand with Sachithra Senanayake (30) after rain had reduced the match to 43 overs per side
Lasith Malinga made a duck but hung around for 10 balls in what was a 31-run partnership for the final wicket with Perera
Shamsur Rahman (62) and Mominul Haque (44) had seen Bangladesh to 114-2 before the former fell, triggering a collapse
The hosts lost 53-8 as no lower-order batsman managed to produce a double-figure score
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim rued several dropped catches and defended his decision to take Shakib Al Hasan out of the attack after 18 overs when the left-arm spinner had taken 1-13 off four overs
"There was killer instinct," he said
"If the catches would have been taken, they could have been bowled out within a hundred
"Our plan was to use away-going deliveries, so that he edged something. We didn't want Perera to play according to his strengths. The plan was fine, unfortunately, we couldn't hold on to the catches.
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