SriLanka face BAN today in Malinga's final ODI

Sri Lanka face off against visiting Bangladesh in the 1st of 3 ODI's beginning at the R Premadasa stadium this afternoon.

While all eyes will rightfully be on Lasith Malinga ahead of his final ODI, the Sri Lanka's quick swansong also brings into the focus the journey both these sides have been on over the last several years.

In 14 ODIs against Bangladesh, Malinga has tasted defeat just three times, and remains probably the last member of the Sri Lanka squad, barring maybe Angelo Mathews, to remember having played Bangladesh when a Sri Lanka victory was considered a mere formality.

The last six completed ODIs between the two sides, meanwhile, have been evenly shared which is why it was such a shame their game at the World Cup was washed out.

As such its safe to say that this series is set to be the most competitive bilateral contest, ever, between the two nations.

Even so, Sri Lanka come into the game with more problems than the visitors.

A chronic inability to pick up wickets in the middle overs has left the team management with their fingers perennially crossed over the return to form of Akila Dananjaya, while the batting order's instability has long been a point of contention.

Malinga's imminent retirement only deepens their woes. Bangladesh, on the other hand, despite their underwhelming finish in a World Cup that began with so much promise, have by far the more settled side.

Even without stars such as Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Liton Das, they have built enough strength in depth to put out arguably the stronger of the two teams, and while captain Tamim Iqbal was keen to avoid the favourites tag in the build-up, the fact that the team will be disappointed with anything other than a win shows how far they've come.

The game gets underway at 2.30pm.