Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah’s impressive batting performances helped Afghanistan secure an emphatic win against Sri Lanka in their sixth match at the World Cup, moving up five places on points. Afghanistan are now fifth on this tally.
Afghanistan bowled first and kept Sri Lanka at bay to dismiss them for 241 runs under par in their pursuit of victory. In this article, we will discuss the main points of Sri Lanka National Cricket Team vs Afghanistan National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Scorecard of National Cricket Teams
Afghan bowlers did well to keep Sri Lankan batsmen at bay. They kept run-rate low and delivered consistent deliveries into key areas. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan delivered regularly while Maheesh Theekshana and Angelo Mathews managed some late innings runs, though not enough to catch up with their target score.
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis made solid starts for Sri Lanka’s team but were unable to capitalize on them. After forging half-century partnerships with each other, both were dismissed soon thereafter in quick succession by Mujeeb Ur Rahman taking two wickets quickly followed by Rashid Khan who attacked through the lower order with leg spin.
After the middle order’s collapse, remaining batters were unable to put together an innings and make headway against Ibrahim Zadran’s short balls. Their run rate dropped constantly as wickets fell at regular intervals from their bowlers; Kasun Rajitha became the final batsman from Sri Lankan team to fall when she fell victim to one such short ball from Ibrahim.
Afghanistan began their innings with caution but soon gained momentum in their chase of 133 in just 19 overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell for a duck early on but the team held strong to reach that score.
Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai then played pivotal innings for Afghanistan, who eventually won by seven wickets with 28 balls remaining – winning their third successive match and qualifying for the knockout stage of the Asian Games, men’s cricket tournament 2023 Asian Games men’s cricket tournament (i.e. semi-finals of 2023 Asian Games men’s cricket tournament). With this victory Afghanistan also qualified to face South Korea in Incheon on 30 October for finals!
First innings
Due to an impressive bowling display from Afghanistan’s bowlers, Sri Lankan batsmen struggled to post an acceptable total. Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana looked good until Fazalhaq Farooqi struck. His first ball of an over was straight and slightly short of mid off fielder where Nabi took a fine catch of Theekshana for 29 runs.
In his next over, he bowls another inswinger that strikes through batsman’s pads and rattles the stumps to take another wicket and continue his remarkable bowling effort. It was truly spectacular effort by this youngster.
Dilshan Madushanka then entered the fray and immediately dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in his first over. Kasun Rajitha then came on as his replacement.
He starts off his bowling by offering up a short delivery which Ibrahim Zadran easily takes for four, before moving on to fuller deliveries which Rahmat Shah hits hard for six.
Ibrahim Zadran used his wrists to time it between cover and short extra and hit it to the boundary for four. It seemed unstoppable! He looked unbeatable!
Finally, he bowls another short delivery and bowls a dot ball – 28 dot balls were played during this phase.
Early on, Dushmanta Chameera and Ibrahim Zadran opened for Sri Lanka. Both batsmen struggled initially but soon started hitting boundaries at regular intervals. Their partnership ultimately came to an end when Chameera attempted to go for a quick single and hit straight to Ibrahim Zadran who hit it straight to Nabi for a spectacular throw, sending the stumps cartwheeling. This wicket proved crucial as Sri Lanka went on to all out 241 runs off 49 overs with Afghanistan claiming their third win of this tournament and maintain hopes of semi-final qualification.
Second innings
After suffering an underwhelming first innings performance, Sri Lanka were in better form when starting their second. Although they struggled to capitalise on early starts, opener Dimuth Karunaratne (39) and Kusal Mendis (30) formed half century partnerships with Pathum Nissanka (46) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (36).
Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck three times to break apart their efforts as Rahmanullah Gurbaz was first out for a duck in the fourth over, followed by Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dushmantha Chameera who all soon followed suit with being dismissed cheaply by Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Mujeeb struck a vital blow as Mendis was dismissed with an excellent googly delivered by Mujeeb in the 31st over, when Mendis attempted a pull shot but failed to connect and was caught plumb in front of the stumps.
Once one wicket had fallen without runs being scored, Afghan bowlers began to exert more control. They reduced the run rate while punishing bad balls while respecting good deliveries.
An explosive boundary from Ibrahim Zadran in the 42nd over was an invaluable boost for Afghani as they headed into their last 10 overs with a lead of 62 runs. When Kasun Rajitha brought back into play and brought the ball back for him to flick or drive; but ultimately failed and eventually retired for an impressive half century score.
With two overs remaining and an eight-run deficit to overcome, Sri Lanka needed an immediate miracle – which happened as they were bowled out for 206 in the final over. Afghanistan were given an excellent start, now having an opportunity to advance further and potentially qualify for semi-finals – time will tell!
Final score
Afghanistan stunned 1996 World Cup champion Sri Lanka by seven wickets to continue their impressive World Cup campaign. Rashid Khan took three wickets upon returning, while Naveed Zadran added four more in what became their third win from six matches played thus far and propelled Afghanistan into fifth position on the table.
After a steady start, Sri Lankan middle order collapsed under pressure from Afghan bowlers. Dhananjaya de Silva was caught behind by Mohammad Nabi while Charith Asalanka succumbed to Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s googly and Dushmantha Chameera was dismissed due to Ibrahim Zadran’s brilliant fielding performance.
Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was quickly dismissed without scoring when Dilshan Madushanka trapped him lbw for a duck. Rahmat Shah joined him shortly afterwards to form a rebuilding partnership, eventually seeing off their efforts with Shah achieving a superb unbeaten 106 in their second innings, helping guide Afghanistan to an impressive total of 241 all out versus Sri Lanka’s first-innings score of 198 all out.
Though they lost early wickets, Lankan batsmen showed some signs of life in their final innings. They scored some boundaries but struggled to up the run rate. Their final two wickets fell quickly as Zadran delivered a googly to remove Dhananjaya while Chameera’s exceptional fielding forced Dushmantha back into his hut.
With 241 in reach, Mendis brought Maheesh Theekshana into the attack and attempted to hit some big shots but was denied by Afghan bowlers. When dropped at short midwicket by Najibullah Zadran and later bowled for pace by Ibrahim – leaving them trailing by 75 runs – Pathum Nissanka and Samarawickrama joined Samarawickrama but their innings was restrained by Afghanistan spinners before Mendis attempted to up the ante but was stopped short by Mujeeb’s sharp googly which led him down and eventually caused his departure for 38 – this wicket led directly to collapse of Sri Lanka’s innings and collapse of its innings and ultimately caused its collapse as it led directly into Mujeeb’s bowlers’ spinners’ googlys and ultimately led directly into Mujeeb’s bowlers’ attack which led him downhill towards collapse of Sri Lanka’s innings and collapse of Sri Lanka’s innings and collapse as well.
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