Dhananjaya de Silva made his 3rd T20I half-century to take Sri Lanka to a comfortable 7-wicket win against Afghanistan in their Super 12s encounter at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Dhananjaya de Silva put together a career-best 66 off 42 deliveries to help Sri Lanka chase 144 in their penultimate Super 12s encounter and get some much-needed points on the board. The Lankans were desperate for a win, having gone down to Australia and New Zealand in their previous two games, their chances of qualifying for the semis hanging by a thread.
They were once again were given the opportunity to chase, which they seem to prefer, despite losing the toss. However, the Afghans started off well, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, in particular, looking dangerous in the middle. Sri Lanka managed to keep the Afghan run-rate in check, but found it tough to dismiss the batters, with Gurbaz, Usman Ghani and Ibrahim Zadran all getting starts.
Dropped catches, poor batting sees Sri Lanka face crushing defeat
At the end of the 15-over mark, the Afghans were well set to get to the 170-run mark, however, Sri Lanka picked up the big wickets of Najibullah Zadran and Mohammed Nabi to ensure that Afghanistan didn’t get away with things, ending with just 40 off the last 5.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Lahiru Kumara were the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, picking up 5 wickets between them. Kumara bowled with fire and finished his spell by the 15th over, with figures of 2/30, while Hasaranga picked up 2 wickets in the final over of the innings, returning figures of 3/13.
Perth’s new cricket stadium, a modern day marvel
Afghanistan also suffered a big blow ahead of the game, with opening batter Hazratullah Zazai being ruled out of the competition due to an abdominal strain.
Both teams needed wins to remain in with a chance of moving through to the semis and now Sri Lanka are still on course, but will need Australia to drop points to Afghanistan and then beat England themselves to finish behind New Zealand in the Group 1 table.
>> Visit the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Hub <<
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | b Lahiru Kumara | 28 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 116.67 |
| Usman Ghani | c Dasun Shanaka b Wanidu Hasaranga | 27 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Ibrahim Zadran | c Bhanuka Rajapaksa b Lahiru Kumara | 22 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 122.22 |
| Najibullah Zadran | c Wanidu Hasaranga b Dhananjaya de Silva | 18 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Gulbadin Naib | run out (Pathum Nissanka) | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Mohammad Nabi | c Dasun Shanaka b Kasun Rajitha | 13 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 162.50 |
| Rashid Khan | b Wanidu Hasaranga | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | not out | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | st Kusal Mendis b Wanidu Hasaranga | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Extras | 11 (b 3 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 144/8 (20 Overs, RR: 7.2) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
| pramod madushan | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 7.50 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 3.25 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | b Mujeeb ur Rahman | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Rashid Khan | 25 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 92.59 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 66 | 42 | 6 | 2 | 157.14 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Azmatullah Omarzai b Rashid Khan | 19 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 105.56 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Mujeeb ur Rahman | 18 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Dasun Shanaka | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 1 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 148/4 (18.3 Overs, RR: 8) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fazal Haq Farooqi | 3.3 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 6.67 | |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | 4 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 6.00 | |
| Fareed Ahmad | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 12.50 | |
| Rashid Khan | 4 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 7.75 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Mohammad Nabi | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Gulbadin Naib | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12.00 | |
