On October 30, 2023, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka faced off in a significant match for both teams at the MCA Stadium in Pune. This ICC ODI World Cup 2023 match was crucial because a loss would have ruined either team's chances of reaching the semi-finals.
After Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss, Sri Lanka was asked to bat first. Noor Ahmad was replaced by Fazalhaq Farooqi, while Rashid Khan played his 100th ODI. Dushmantha Chameera and Dimuth Karunaratne, on the other hand, replaced Lahiru Kumara and Kusal Perera in Sri Lankan XI.
Pathum Nissanka started well, scoring 46 runs in 60 balls. Kusal Mendis scored 39 runs and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 36 as Afghanistan bowlers made inroads at regular intervals.
Much was expected of Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva, and both received starts. Asalanka scored 22 runs, while De Silva scored 14 before being removed.
But with Angelo Mathews' 23 and Maheesh Theekshana's 29, Sri Lanka propelled their final total to 241 runs in the end. Fazalhaq Farooqi claimed four wickets, while Naveen Ul Haq took two. Rashid Khan took one wicket in his 100th ODI as well.
The chase began ominously for Afghanistan as Dilshan Madushanka dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck and then also accounted for dangerous Ibrahim Zadran for 39 runs.
But Rahmat Shah (62) and captain Shahidi scored 58 runs for the third wicket. Following his dismissal, Shahidi continued his march to triumph with Azmatullah Omarzai by his side.
The Afghan captain was undefeated on 58, while Omarzai was unbeaten on 73* as the pair shared an unbeaten partnership of 111 runs for the fourth wicket.
Afghanistan won their third match in this CWC 2023 by 7 wickets in the 46th over. They also moved to fifth place in the points table with 6 points to their name from 6 games.
The cricket fraternity was all praises for the Afghanistan team’s performance and convincing win and lauded them on X.
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