Skipper Wanindu Hasaranga claimed his first-ever T20I series win since being appointed full-time captain as Sri Lanka made mincemeat of Afghanistan within the second recreation of the three-match series by 87 runs on Monday (February 19).
Sri Lankan batters used the batting-friendly strip on the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium after the Afghan skipper Ibrahim Zadran gained the toss and despatched them in.
Openers Pathum Nissanka (25 runs off 11 deliveries) and Kusal Mendis (23 off 14 balls) obtained the hosts off to a blistering begin, placing the strain proper again on the vacationers up entrance.
The Sri Lankan pair added 45 runs inside 4 overs earlier than Nissanka was trapped in entrance of his stumps by Azmatullah Omarzai. Mendis was fast to observe his associate to the dugout as he fell prey to Fazalhaq Farooqi two deliveries later.
The house facet misplaced three extra wickets with out including a lot to the scoreboard and was diminished to 121/5 in 14.2 overs. However, issues took an incredible flip for the Wanindu Hasaranga-led facet as Sadeera Samarawickrama (51 off 42 balls) and Angelo Mathews got here collectively within the center.
The duo added 66 off simply 34 balls to propel the Lankan Lions to 187/6 in 20 overs. Mathews was the star of the present as he smashed 4 sixes and two fours and batted at a jaw-dropping strike fee of 190.90.
Veteran allrounder Mohammad Nabi was the choose of the Afghan bowlers as he completed with figures of two/25.
Afghanistan’s chase wobbled early and so they had been struggling to preserve up with the asking fee, having misplaced half their facet inside 5 overs.
The Sri Lankan bowlers had been disciplined of their method and did not provide any freebies for the vacationers to money in. A 39-run stand between Nabi and Karim Jant helped the guests salvage their delight to some extent earlier than the Lankan bowling assault got here roaring again to prohibit them to 115 in 17 overs.
Wanindu Hasaranga strikes previous Lankan legend Lasith Malinga
Skipper Hasaranga grew to become the quickest Sri Lankan to 100 T20I wickets as he shattered Lasith Malinga‘s record. Hasaranga achieved the feat in his 63rd T20I outing whereas it took Malinga 76 T20Is snare 100 scalps within the format.
Hasaranga is the second-fastest to scale the milestone and is behind Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan who bagged 100 T20I poles in simply 53 video games.
