Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad is clear bowled by Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana in the course of the first Twenty20 worldwide cricket match between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka at The Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium in Dambulla on February 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Matheesha Pathirana and Binura Fernando bowled good demise overs for Sri Lanka to beat Afghanistan by 4 runs in a Twenty20 on Saturday.
Captain Ibrahim Zadran batted Afghanistan to the brink of its first win of the tour however they may rating solely 9 runs in the final two overs when 14 have been wanted.
Pathirana bowled the nineteenth over and took two wickets and allowed solely three runs. He was named man of the match.
Fernando, who conceded 38 runs in his earlier three overs, bowled the final over and began with 4 dot balls in opposition to Zadran, who refused singles to not expose No. 11 batter Fazalhaq Farooqi. That left Afghanistan to attain 11 off the final two balls and Zadran scored two and completed with a meaningless eighth boundary.
Zadran completed 67 not out off 55 balls.
Sri Lanka was all out for 160 in 19 overs with captain Wanindu Hasaranga scoring 67 off 32 deliveries together with three sixes and 7 boundaries.
“We were 15 to 20 runs short but our bowlers did a great job,” Hasaranga stated. With seven batters, Sri Lanka ought to have taken extra duty, he added.
Fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi took 3-25 whereas Naveen-ul -Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai took two wickets every.
Afghanistan was 71-3 after 9 overs in the chase however collapsed and was held to 156-9.
“I don’t like losing,” Zadran stated. “We gave our best in the field. But we want to come back stronger in the next game.
“It was a chaseable target, a chaseable score. But we did some mistakes in the middle. We had a good start in the batting, we had a good power play, we gave them wickets in the middle.”
Pathirana, enjoying his second T20, returned 4-24. Dasun Shanaka had 2-17 together with two wickets in the identical over.
Earlier, Sri Lanka misplaced in-form opening batter Pathum Nissanka on 6 when he slashed at quick bowler Farooqi and was caught behind.
Sri Lanka was 55-4 when Hasaranga joined Sadeera Samarawickama and the pair added 72 runs for the fifth wicket.
After Samarawickrama was run out for 25, Sri Lanka misplaced wickets rapidly to be bowled out with one over to spare in a Rangiri Dambulla Stadium renovated and reopened for worldwide video games.
Sri Lanka received the one-off check, and swept the one-day worldwide series 3-0. The second of three T20s is on Monday.
