LAHORE – Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by two runs in a thriller to reach the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2023 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Tuesday.
Chasing a difficult target of 292 runs in 37.1 runs to qualify for the next stage, Afghanistan lost all wickets at 289 runs in 37.4 overs.
Needing three runs on the first delivery of the 38th over, Afghanistan lost the wicket of Mujeeb-ur-Rehman. Valiant Afghans also failed to get a consolation win as they lost the last wicket in the same over with Rashid Khan stranded on the other end.
At the start of the chase, Afghanistan eyed the target of completing the jog in 37.1 and not in 50 overs to advance to the next stage.
Even after losing both the openers at 27 and the third wicket at 50, Afghanistan batters kept the hopes alive by batting aggressively.
After the departure of Gulbadin Naib (22) and Rehmat Shah (45), skipper Shahidi (59) and Mohammad Nabi (65) added 80 runs with the latter being ultra-aggressive.
Mohammad Nabi completed the fastest fifty for an Afghanistan batter during the partnership.
Sri Lanka came back in the match by dismissing Mohammad Nabi.
At this stage, Afghanistan’s qualification for the next stage looked highly unlikely. But the cameos of Karim Janat (22), Najibullah Zadran (23) and Rashid Khan (27) brought Afghanistan closer to the qualification for the next stage.
To hit a boundary on the first ball of the 38th over to take his team to the next stage, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman lost his wicket.
Now Afghanistan was looking for a consolation win but it did not happen. Farooq got out in the same over.
Kusal Mendis was named player of the match for scoring 92 runs on 84 balls with six fours and three maximums.
Earlier, Sri Lanka posted 291 runs for the loss of eight wickets after winning the toss and batting first.
Both the openers provided a solid start with a better-than-run-a-ball partnership of 63 runs.
After losing three wickets in a space of 23 runs, top scorer Kusal Mendis (92) and Charith Asalanka (36) brought Sri Lanka back on track with a valuable 102-run stand.
Cameos from Dunith Wellalage and Maheesh Theekshana at the back end of the inning enabled Sri Lanka to post a challenging first-inning total of 291/8.
