Afghanistan’s dream run in the continued World Cup 2023 continues to roll on as they defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the thirtieth match on the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Monday, October 30.
Chasing a mediocre complete of 242 to win the match, Afghanistan have been rocked early as left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka dismissed their star opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the very first over. But a 73-run stand between Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah pulled the aspect out of hazard and ensured a secure passage of play.
Ibrahim was wanting in nice contact with the willow in hand, nevertheless, he fell at a person rating of 39 whereas executing an higher minimize in the seventeenth over. It was Madushanka once more who gave the Lankan Lions their second breakthrough of the competition.
The lack of Ibrahim’s wicket did not hassle Rahmat a lot as he continued his merry means and scored his second consecutive half-century of the continued version. The right-handed batter paced his innings very well and it by no means let the asking charge transcend an achievable margin.
Rahmat’s dismissal left the door ajar for the Kusal Mendis-led aspect to make a comeback however a defiant and unbeaten 111-run partnership between skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and allrounder Azamtullah Omarzai shut it down fully on the finish.
Earlier in the competition, the toss was gained by Afghanistan and so they requested the 1996 World Cup winners to set a complete on the board. The wicket did not have a lot in it for the bowlers and regarded very placid however the Sri Lankan batters didn’t benefit from the situations.
All of their high seven batters received off to promising begins however not a single one in every of them managed to essentially kick on and put strain on the Afghanistan bowlers. Pathum Nissanka top-scored with 46 off 60 balls, together with 5 fours.
Left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi stood out for Afghanistan with the ball in hand. He grabbed a four-fer after dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana. He bowled a miserly spell and conceded simply 34 runs in his ten overs, thereby recording a praiseworthy financial system charge of three.40.
