Asia Cup 2018: Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan praises his team after a dominating win over Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Captain Angelo Matthews expressed disappointment over side's poor peformance.

Afghanistan knocked Sri Lanka out of the tournament with a win by 91 runs | Getty

Having led his side to another heartwarming victory in their opening encounter of the Asia Cup 2018, Afghanistan Captain Asghar Afghan is in full praise of his side for their dominating performance against Sri Lanka. 

Batting first Afghanistan amassed 249 runs on the board, with composed and well organised Rahmat Shah scoring a very substantial 72 at no.3 after openers - Mohammad Shahzad(34) and Ihsanullah Janat(45) - provided a very solid foundation. 

It is then, Afghanistan's bowling strength came to the fore. Spin trio Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan simply ran through the alarmingly short of confidence Sri Lankan batting line up and knock the team from island nation out of the tournament, with a win by 91 runs. 

"[It was a] very important game because Sri Lanka lost their first game. Credit to our batsmen, our openers, they played very well. Every batsman executed his plans," said Afghan after the match and added, "Credit to our fielders who fielded very well. We want to win, show our abilities and talent. When you want to play to win, you play positively. Our spinners, batsmen and bowlers all did well. I would also like to say thanks to the crowd for their support."

It is quite a depressing and disheartening state of affairs that Sri Lanka Cricket has got themselves in. 

Talking about his side's massive defeat, Captain Angelo Matthews said, "This was shocking from the whole team. Even in the first game, we got all out for 150-odd. Congratulations to Afghanistan as they outplayed us. We got a good start [0/1 but then 54/1] but again lost our way in the middle overs." though he felt, "The bowlers did well, the fielding had also improved from the last match. It’s just the batting unit that let us down."

"We played better cricket in the later parts of the South Africa series. Just disappointing to see the way the boys went about it. We couldn’t handle pressure. Not passing 150 on both occasions is very shocking and disappointing." he signed off. 

(Inputs from Hindustan Times)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 18 Sep, 2018

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