Defending champions Sri Lanka lost their 3rd consecutive match in the group stage against Afghanistan in the ACC Emerging teams Asia Cup 2019 today (18) at Cox’s Bazar Academy ground, getting knocked out of the tournament without making the semi-finals.
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Afghanistan Emerging skipper Samiullah Shenwari won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat first and immediately got the reward he hoped as Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka was dismissed with the first ball of the match. Trinitian Hasitha Boyagoda didn’t last long at the crease either, only making 8 off 18 balls.
From then on, wicketkeeper batsman Minod Bhanuka and Skipper Charith Asalanka paired up for a crucial partnership for the 3rd wicket, adding 62 off 10.4 overs. Bhanuka made a busy 42 with 4 boundaries and 1 six before he was dismissed by left arm spinner/all-rounder Shahidullah Kamal.
After Bhanuka’s dismissal all-rounder Kamindu Mendis partnered up with the skipper for the highest partnership of the innings; 115 runs off 125 balls, taking Sri Lanka past the 200 mark. Mendis stroked a fine fifty with 6 fours and 1 six, completing his 71-ball 63 in the 40th over.
Skipper Asalanka continued to play the anchor role as he notched up a brilliant, almost run-a-ball century. This is his 2nd 50+ score in the tournament.
The lower middle order didn’t contribute to the scorecard massively as Sri Lanka were wrapped up without completing 50 overs after being in a strong position at 204/4 in the 40th over. Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai and Abdul Noori shared 3 wickets a piece, restricting Sri Lanka to 238.
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In the reply by Afghanistan, they never looked out of the game as they controlled the fairly comfortable chase from ball 1. Opener Shahidullah Kamal played a match winning knock for Afghanistan as he produced a composed century taking his team over the line in the 45th over.
Darwish Rasool bludgeoned his way to a rapid 61 including 5 mammoth sixes, making life miserable for Sri Lanka Emerging bowlers.
Sri Lanka Emerging were knocked out of the tournament after failing to win any of the 3 games in the group stages while the semifinals of the tournament will be worked off between Pakistan Vs India and Bangladesh Vs Afghanistan on 20th & 21st of November.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Tariq Stanikzai b Yousuf Zazai | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Minod Bhanuka | c Munir Ahmad b Shahidullah | 42 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Hasitha Boyagoda | c Munir Ahmad b Azmatullah Omarzai | 8 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 44.44 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Munir Ahmad b Azmatullah Omarzai | 100 | 106 | 6 | 3 | 94.34 |
| Kamindu Mendis | st Munir Ahmad b Abdul Wasi | 63 | 71 | 6 | 1 | 88.73 |
| Ashen Bandara | c Azmatullah Omarzai b Abdul Wasi | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Sammu Ashan | lbw b Abdul Wasi | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Chamika Karunarathne | b Tariq Stanikzai | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Kalana Perera | b Azmatullah Omarzai | 9 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Amila Aponso | b Yousuf Zazai | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 1 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 238/10 (49.5 Overs, RR: 4.78) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-0 (0.1) Pathum Nissanka, 2-25 (7.6) Hasitha Boyagoda, 3-87 (18.4) Minod Bhanuka, 4-202 (39.3) Kamindu Mendis, 5-204 (39.6) Ashen Bandara, 6-208 (41.3) Sammu Ashan, 7-215 (44.2) Chamika Karunarathne, 8-233 (47.4) Charith Asalanka, 9-234 (48.3) Amila Aponso, 10-238 (49.5) Kalana Perera, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yousuf Zazai | 9 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 2.89 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 9.5 | 0 | 36 | 3 | 3.79 | |
| Abdul Malik | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Shahidullah | 6 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 6.33 | |
| Abdul Wasi | 10 | 0 | 50 | 3 | 5.00 | |
| Tariq Stanikzai | 6 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Samiullah Shinwari | 7 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 5.29 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul Malik | run out (Amila Aponso) | 47 | 54 | 6 | 1 | 87.04 |
| Shahidullah | not out | 102 | 137 | 7 | 3 | 74.45 |
| Bahir Shah | c Minod Bhanuka b Charith Asalanka | 10 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 55.56 |
| Darwish Rasooli | c Kamindu Mendis b Kalana Perera | 61 | 59 | 2 | 5 | 103.39 |
| Samiullah Shinwari | not out | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 233.33 |
| Extras | 15 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 3, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 242/3 (44.5 Overs, RR: 5.4) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-99 (18.3) Abdul Malik, 2-114 (23.5) Bahir Shah, 3-233 (43.4) Darwish Rasooli, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Kalana Perera | 6 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Amila Aponso | 10 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 3.30 | |
| Chamika Karunarathne | 6 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 5.33 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 8 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 4.25 | |
| Kamindu Mendis | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Ashen Bandara | 3.5 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 6.29 | |
| Sammu Ashan | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 9.67 | |
 at Cox's Bazar Academy ground){kind=link}