Afghanistan’s World Cup Dream Lives On with Third Win Over Sri Lanka

Afghanistan’s dream World Cup campaign soared to new heights on Monday, October 30th, in Pune, as they comfortably defeated Sri Lanka for their third win of the tournament. Building on their previous victories over England and Pakistan, Afghanistan kept themselves in mathematical contention for a semifinal spot by defeating a third former champion.

Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka struck early to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz, but Afghanistan remained ahead of the run rate throughout their chase of 242. Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran got going with boundaries, and Zadran even flicked Kasun Rajitha for a six. Angelo Matthews, who had starred with the ball in Sri Lanka’s previous game, conceded two boundaries in his first over as Afghanistan reached 50 runs in the powerplay.

Madushanka returned to break the promising partnership between Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran, slowing Afghanistan’s run rate. Afghanistan didn’t panic, however, as Rahmat plodded towards another half-century. On 62, Rahmat was given a lifeline by Sadeera Samarawickrama, but he failed to read a slower delivery and miscued it, giving Sri Lanka an opening. Sri Lanka failed to capitalize on the opportunity, however, as Azmatullah Omarzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi made merry.

Azmatullah Omarzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi kept the scoreboard ticking with singles before Omarzai unleashed a six over deep midwicket off Maheesh Theekshana. That was the release shot he needed, and he followed it up with another six using the ramp shot in the very next over. Afghanistan were now in control of the chase, and by the end of the 40th over, they had 201 runs on the board. Sensing an opportunity for a big win, Shahidi and Omarzai switched gears and began plundering boundaries. They both brought up their half-centuries in style, and Afghanistan eventually reached the target with 28 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka failed to capitalize on the batting-friendly surface earlier in the day, losing control of their innings after the halfway point to finish with just 241. The decision to bring back Dimuth Karunaratne backfired, as Fazalhaq Farooqi, returning to the team, dismissed him early. Pathum Nissanka then took charge, hitting boundaries off four consecutive overs to finally get Sri Lanka going. Kusal Mendis also joined the party after a slow start.

Nissanka pulled ahead by one to go for 46, but Sri Lanka’s run pace didn’t improve. Around the middle point, Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama stabilized the innings, putting Sri Lanka in a strong position. At that point, Mujeeb took charge and ended the game by taking out both of the set hitters in back-to-back overs. Rashid Khan sent an awkward-looking Dhananjaya de Silva back with a googly.

Angelo Matthews had to save the innings now, but the veteran lost more wickets on the opposite end. Theekshana grabbed control of the scoring and Matthews made some important runs towards the end, but Farooqi returned to finish with a four-fer and restrict their opponents to a score below par.