Sri Lanka registered a thrilling win over Afghanistan in the 1st T20I of the three-match series played yesterday (17th February) at Dambulla.
Having been asked to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a flyer as they managed to put on 51 runs in the powerplay despite losing three wickets in the process.
When Sri Lanka stuttered at 55/4, the skipper Wanindu Hasaranga promoted himself up the order and played counter-attacking knocks to turn the game in favour of the hosts, smashing 67 runs off 32 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes.
Hasaranga built a partnership worth 72 runs off 40 balls with Sadeera Samarawickrama for the 5th wicket. However, after the dismissals of Hasaranga and Samarawickrama, Sri Lanka lost their way as they were bowled out for 160 runs in 19 overs.
Afghanistan began with a bang in the run-chase as they raced away to 57 runs in the powerplay, losing only one wicket. Hasaranga, making an uncharacteristic move, brought himself on inside the powerplay and managed to strike in his second over dismissing Gulbadin Naib.
Former skipper Dasun Shanaka used his variations in pace to greater effect to grab two wickets in the space of three balls to push the visitors onto the backfoot at 86 for 5.
However, Afghan skipper Ibrahim Zadran and Karim Janat managed to take the game down to the wire, building a vital 39-run stand for the 6th wicket. When Afghanistan needed 36 runs off 24 balls with five wickets in hand, the game was on the visitor’s hand to lose.
But, the 21-year-old slinger Matheesha Pathirana had other ideas as he ran through the Afghan tail-enders with his 150+kmph deliveries to restrict the visitors to 156/9, securing a nervy victory. Pathirana was exceptional throughout his spell as he snared 4 wickets for 24 runs in his 4-over spell.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Fazal Haq Farooqi | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Azmatullah Omarzai b Fazal Haq Farooqi | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Noor Ahmad b Naveen ul Haq | 24 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 141.18 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | run out (Ibrahim Zadran) | 25 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 104.17 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Noor Ahmad | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | c Ibrahim Zadran b Naveen ul Haq | 67 | 32 | 7 | 3 | 209.38 |
| Angelo Mathews | lbw b Karim Janat | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Gulbadin Naib b Azmatullah Omarzai | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | c Mohammad Nabi b Fazal Haq Farooqi | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Binura Fernando | b Azmatullah Omarzai | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Matheesha Pathirana | not out | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 160/10 (19 Overs, RR: 8.42) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fazal Haq Farooqi | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 6.25 | |
| Naveen ul Haq | 3 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 8.33 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 7.50 | |
| Noor Ahmad | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 9.00 | |
| Qais Ahmed | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 12.00 | |
| Karim Janat | 3 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 7.67 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ibrahim Zadran | not out | 67 | 55 | 8 | 0 | 121.82 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Matheesha Pathirana b Angelo Mathews | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 216.67 |
| Gulbadin Naib | b Wanidu Hasaranga | 16 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 94.12 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | c Dasun Shanaka b Matheesha Pathirana | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Mohammad Nabi | c Wanidu Hasaranga b Dasun Shanaka | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Najibullah Zadran | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dasun Shanaka | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Karim Janat | lbw b Matheesha Pathirana | 20 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Qais Ahmed | c Kamindu Mendis b Maheesh Theekshana | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 175.00 |
| Noor Ahmad | b Matheesha Pathirana | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 150.00 |
| Naveen ul Haq | b Matheesha Pathirana | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Fazal Haq Farooqi | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 12 (b 4 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 8, pen 0) |
| Total | 156/9 (20 Overs, RR: 7.8) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo Mathews | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 8.00 | |
| Binura Fernando | 4 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 11.00 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Matheesha Pathirana | 4 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 6.00 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 2 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 8.50 | |
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