Lahore: Sri Lanka has won match against Afghanistan in 11th Asia cup by just 2 runs with this victory Sri Lanka also qualified for super fours round.
Chasing the target of Sri Lanka 291, Afghanistan played brilliantly as it reached near the total just in 37th over but lost the match due to continuous losing wickets.
The four of Afghan players made fifties which include Fazalhaq Farooqi 52, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 60, Gulbadin Naib, 60, Rashid Khan 63.
Besides that other two players also added substantial score in the total as Mohammad Nabi, Karim Jannat scored 35 and 20 respectively.
Muhammad Nabi and Hashmat Ullah Shahidi made fifties while Nabi was the highest scorer from Afghanistan as he scored 65 followed by Shahidi who scored 59.
Sri Lankan batter Kusal Mendis declared player of the match as he scored 92 runs off 84 runs.
Sri Lankan bowler Kasun Rajitha took 4 wickets, Dunith Wellalage, Dhananjaya de Silva got 2 wickets each while Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana picked one wicket each.
Earlier, Sri Lanka set a target of 292 runs after winning the toss and deciding to bat first against Afghanistan in the crucial Group B clash.
They almost lost it, but Sri Lanka keep their cool to make the Super Fours in an absolute thriller in Lahore 🔥 #SLvAFG | #AsiaCup2023
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 5, 2023
Sri Lanka finished on 291-8 in 50 overs.
Kusal Mendis was the top run-scorer for Sri Lanka with 92 runs in 84 balls with the help of six fours and three sixes. He was unfortunate to miss out on a well-deserved hundred after he was run-out at the bowler’s end.
Sri Lanka got off to a solid start with Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne scoring 63 runs in 10.2 overs. However, both failed to kick on after getting a start and were dismissed for 41 and 32 runs, respectively.
Charith Asalanka scored 36 runs in 43 balls.
Dunith Wellalage (33 not out) and Maheesh Theekshana (28) added 64 runs in 63 balls for the eighth wicket to provide impetus at the backend of the innings.
Seamer Gulbadin Naib claimed 4-60 in 10 overs, meanwhile Rashid Khan bagged figures of 2-63.
Both teams didn’t make any changes to their playing XI for this contest.
Lineups:
Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Karim Janat, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 8 Dunith Wellalage, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Matheesha Pathirana
