CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka survived a huge scare from Afghanistan before pulling off a nail-biting two-run victory in the sixth match of the 2023 Asia Cup Limited Overs Cricket Tournament Group ‘B’ clash played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday.
Afghanistan made a desperate attempt to reach their target from 37.1 overs to qualify for the Super Fours Segment, but they eventually fell short by just two runs after a tremendous batting performance from their middle and late order batsmen.
Sri Lanka hammered an impressive 291 for eight from their 50 overs after having elected to bat first and soon they reduced the opposition to 27 for two inside the opening five overs.
However, Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah steadied the innings with some sensible batting before Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Mohammad Nabi brought them closer to the target with two sparkling half centuries.
The late order batsmen Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran and Rashid Khan also made valuable contributions for Afghanistan, but Dhananjaya de Silva picked up two wickets inside four deliveries to steer Sri Lanka to a thrilling victory.
Earlier, Player of the Match Kusal Mendis hit a splendid 92 and played the sheet anchor role to lay the platform for a match winning total.
The 28-year-old right-hand wicket-keeper batsman raced to his half century from 55 balls inclusive of five boundaries and was unfortunately dismissed just eight runs short of his hundred.
But by that time, Mendis had already added a superb 102 runs for the fourth wicket along with Charith Asalanka and was dismissed in the 40th over after having hoisted three sixes and struck six boundaries.
Sri Lanka, of course, suffered a mini collapse midway in the innings as they slumped to 227 for seven after being strongly placed at 188 for three at one stage.
Afghanistan came back into the game with a couple of quick wickets, and they believed that they could keep the Sri Lankans to under 250 runs in this must-win encounter.
However, all-rounders Dunith Wellalage and Maheesh Theekshana had different ideas as the pair put on a fighting 64 runs for the eighth wicket without taking much of a risk.
Chief scores:
Sri Lanka: 291/8 in 50 overs (Pathum Nissanka 41, Dimuth Karunaratne 32, Kusal Mendis 92, Charith Asalanka 36, Dunith Wellalage 33 n.o, Maheesh Theekshana 28, Gulbadin Naib 4/60, Rashid Khan 2/63)
Afghanistan: 289 in 37.4 overs (Gulbadin Naib 22, Rahmat Shah 45, Hashmatullah Shahidi 59, Mohammad Nabi 65, Karim Janat 22, Najibullah Zadran 23, Rashid Khan 27 n.o, Kasun Rajitha 4/79, Dunith Wellalage 2/36, Dhananjaya de Silva 2/12).