Sports Desk
PUNE: A strong partnership between Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan to secure sevent-wicket win over Sri Lanka in significant ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 fixture in Pune on Monday.
Afghanistan hunted down the target of 242 runs with 28 balls spare as the Lankan bowlers could not fallen apart the partnership.
Afghanistan recovered superbly through the powerplay to set a strong platform in search of target to win after key opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed for a duck in the first over by Dilshan Madushanka.
Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah put on a steady partnership through the remainder of the powerplay and beyond to settle the nerves, put Sri Lanka bounced back when Madushanka returned to remove Zadran for a classy 39.
Momentum swung back towards Afghanistan with a sizeable third-wicket partnership, with Rahmat Shah hitting an excellent half-century. After his dismissal, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai held the nerves and smashed unbeaten 58 and 73, respectively, winning the game for their side.
Earlier, Sri Lanka set a target of 242 runs for Afghanistan. The Lankans took a stable start as opener Pathum Nissanka made 46 runs. However, their innings went off track due to regular strikes from Afghanistan spinners. Dimuth Karunaratne was first from Sri Lanka to fell for 15 runs.
Set batters Kusal Mendis (39) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (36) fell to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, while Rashid Khan accounted for Dhananjaya de Silva with a brilliant googly. Fazalhaq Farooqi ensured that the pacers had their say too, and picked Charith Asalanka in the 39th over.
Maheesh Theekshana and Angelo Mathews tried to build a tail-order partnership but the latter dismissed by Farooqi.
Fazal Farooqi took four wickets while Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed two scalps.
Earlier, in a crucial world cup match, Afghanistan decided to field after winning the toss against Sri Lanka in Pune.
Pre-match coverage
Interestingly, both teams have two wins to their credit after five outings in the 2023 world event and eye a semi-final spot.
This is their fifth ODI encounter in as many months, but this time with the stakes at their highest on the back of their improving form and performances.
They have surged back into semi-final contention with giant-killing victories, as Afghanistan stunned Pakistan and titleholders England.
Sri Lanka have a strong recent record against Afghanistan having won their past three clashes in the format including a thriller in the Asia Cup by only two runs.
Sri Lanka defeated England and the Netherlands in their five matches
But while Afghanistan have a settled line-up, the luckless Sri Lanka have been hit by further injury with in-form pacer Lahiru Kumara the latest in their squad to be sidelined.
Squads
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne
Key players
Afghanistan – Naveen-ul-Haq
The fiery pacer has been critical in adding balance to an Afghanistan attack that can otherwise turn to the spin threat from Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad.
Often taking the ball as the first change, Naveen has had a knack of picking up wickets at important times in both of Afghanistan’s victories, including knocking down Jos Buttler’s stumps when a shaky England were rebuilding in their chase.
The 24-year-old already has six wickets to be equal with spin magician Rashid Khan as Afghanistan‘s most damaging bowler so far at the Cricket World Cup, and in his farewell to the format now looms as crucial to their hopes of restricting Sri Lanka’s dangerous top order.
Sri Lanka – Kusal Mendis
The keeper-batter has been in the thick of the action since taking the reins from Dasun Shanaka when the Sri Lanka captain was ruled out of the tournament with a quad injury.
Mendis has led Sri Lanka to back-to-back victories, after initially being at the helm for the loss to Australia, while his glovework seems to have also stepped up with the added responsibility.
The 28-year-old took a pair of neat catches against Netherlands, then backed it up with two more grabs, a stumping and a clever run out of Adil Rashid that all but sealed the stirring triumph over England.
But with only 31 runs in three knocks since stepping in as skipper, Mendis will be out to rediscover the touch that had him start the Cricket World Cup with 198 runs across Sri Lanka’s opening two matches.
