Afghanistan’s winning streak was finally ended by Sri Lanka in a Super Four match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 on Saturday (September 3) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The Mohammad Nabi-led Afghanistan cricket team was unbeaten in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 until this match, where Sri Lanka stunned one and all with a great fight back to win their second consecutive match in the T20 tournament.
After Afghanistan’s four-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka, Nabi said that his team should have scored about 20–25 runs more as the pitch was very good and also blamed poor fielding and bowling for the disappointing defeat in the Super Four match.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka decided to bowl first, and Dilshan Madushanka gave them a great start, but Rahmanullah Gurbaz (84) and Ibrahim Zadran (40) took charge of the side and added 93 runs for the second wicket to help Afghanistan post 175 runs on the board in 20 overs.
Madushanka snared two wickets for Sri Lanka. Chasing 176 for victory, Sri Lanka got off to a fine start from their openers Pathum Nissanka (35) and Kusal Mendis (36), and then Danushka Gunathilaka (33) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31) also made valuable contributions to help the side win the match by 4 wickets against Afghanistan.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Naveen-ul-Haq each snared two wickets for Afghanistan.
Mohammad Nabi said at the post-match presentation ceremony: “We were about 20-25 runs short, and also we didn’t field well or bowl in the right areas. It’s a better pitch today than the one we played on against Bangladesh, which is why I said we were a few runs short. We didn’t bowl brilliantly, but we bowled really well. We dropped some catches, which if we took the game would have been different.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said: “It’s the belief of the dressing room, we believe we can chase anything in these kinds of wickets. We can always analyze the wicket better when chasing. There was a plan coming into this game, we know they have good batters, but the boys executed the plans really well.”
He added, “As I mentioned in the toss, partnerships were the key to winning the game. We had spoken about that, and now we know how to approach matches and win games.”
Notably, Sri Lanka will next face India on September 6, while Afghanistan will next take on Pakistan on September 7 in the super fours of the Asia Cup 2022.
(Firstpost inputs)
