SL vs AFG Highlights – Asia Cup 2022 LIVE: SriLanka win by 4 wickets: Sri Lanka pulled off a major upset, beating Afghanistan by 4 wickets in the Super 4 opener. With that, Dasun Shanaka & Co also avenged their humiliating loss in the Asia Cup 2022 opener. Rahmanullah Gurbaz helped Afghanistan post 175/5 but impactful innings from Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa helped them chase the target with 5 balls to spare. Check SriLanka beat Afghanistan Highlights & Asia Cup Super-4 LIVE updates with InsideSport.IN.
SL vs AFG Highlights:
- Player of the Match: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (84 off 45)
- 1: This was the highest successful chase by Sri Lanka in Sharjah.
- In the last match, Sri Lanka made the highest successful run-chase in Dubai against Bangladesh.
- 176: It is highest successful chase against Afghanistan in T20Is. The previous best was 169 by Ireland in Belfast.
- 1/39 is Rashid Khan’s worst T20I spell.
- 17: Rashid Khan conceded 17 runs in his first over. This is his worst in opening over in T20Is.
SL vs AFG Highlights: Sri Lanka AVENGE LOSS with RECORD chase to beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets in Super 4 opener, Check Asia Cup 2022 Highlights
Chasing a difficult target of 176, Sri Lanka hit top gear in the powerplay. Despite the openers’ past failure, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis were off to a flying start. The two added 57 runs in the powerplay. But most importantly, Sri Lanka made their intentions clear, hammering Rashid Khan for 17 runs in his first over.
While Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Kusal Mendis who was going hammer and tongs, it did not matter much. Mendis smashed 19-ball 36 to set the tone of the match. After the 62-run opening stand, Sri Lanka never had a great partnership but there was a small impactful performances throughout.
Pathum Nissanka (35 off 28), Dannushka Gunathilaka (33 off 20) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31 off 14) besides Wanindu Hasaranga (16 off 9) all contributed well. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Sri Lanka never let the pace drop and that is where the Lankan side won the game.
However, Afghanistan also helped them in their stride. There were two dropped catches that changed the complexion of the match. The first dropped catch was of Gunathilaka in the 12th over when Karim Janat dropped a sitter. Then it was Rajapaksa’s catch in the 16th over that changed the game completely.
SL vs AFG Highlights: Sri Lanka AVENGE LOSS with RECORD chase to beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets in Super 4 opener, Check Asia Cup 2022 Highlights
Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi wasn’t happy with the fielding efforts and he expressed his displeasure after the match.
“We were about 20-25 runs short, and also we didn’t field well or bowl in the right areas. It’s a better pitch today than the one we played on against Bangladesh, which is why I said we were a few runs short. We didn’t bowl brilliantly, but we bowled really well. We dropped some catches, which if we took the game would have been different,” Nabi said after the match.
Earlier, sent to bat, Afghanistan continued their same attacking approach. Although Hazratullah Zazai did not get going and was dismissed inside the powerplay, he already added 46 runs in first five overs with Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The opener was special on Saturday.
Gurbaz hammered 45-ball 84 including 4 boundaries and 6 massive sixes. He was well supported by Ibrahim Zadran as the duo added 93 runs for the 2nd wicket. However, after Gurbaz fell, so did Afghanistan’s pace.
SL vs AFG Highlights: Sri Lanka AVENGE LOSS with RECORD chase to beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets in Super 4 opener, Check Asia Cup 2022 Highlights
SriLanka fought back at the death, stifling Afghan batters. Sri Lanka conceded just 37 runs in the last five overs while taking 5 wickets to turn things in their favour. As they fell 20-25 runs short, Sri Lanka captalised on that to take 2 points home.
“It’s the belief of the dressing room, we believe we can chase anything in these kinds of wickets. We can always analyse the wicket better when chasing. There was a plan coming into this game, we know they have good batters, but the boys executed the plans really well. As I mentioned in the toss, partnerships was the key to winning the game. We had spoken about that, and now we now how to approach matches and win games,” Dasun Shanaka said at the end of the match.
| Super 4 Standings | |||||||
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.589 |
| India | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.589 |
SriLanka Live Scorecard:
| Batsmen | R | B | 4S | 6S | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | 35 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 125.00 | |
| Kusal Mendis (WK) | 36 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 189.47 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 | |
| Danushka Gunathilaka | 33 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 165.00 | |
| Dasun Shanaka (C) | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 111.11 | |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | 31 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 221.43 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 16 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 177.78 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 250.00 | |
| Extra | 5 (b 0, w 3, nb 0, lb 2) | |||||
| Total | 179/6 (19.1) | |||||
| Yet To Bat | M Theekshana, D Madushanka, AM Fernando | |||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | 3.1 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 10.74 |
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 7.50 |
| Naveen-ul-Haq | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 10.00 |
| Rashid Khan | 4 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 9.75 |
| Mohammad Nabi | 4 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 8.50 |
| Fall Of Wickets | FOW | Over |
|---|---|---|
| K Mendis | 1-62 | 6.3 |
| Pathum Nissanka | 2-80 | 8.6 |
| C Asalanka | 3-94 | 11.3 |
| D Shanaka | 4-119 | 14.1 |
| D Gunathilaka | 5-151 | 16.4 |
| B Rajapaksa | 6-174 | 18.3 |
Afghanistan LIVE scorecard
| Batsmen | R | B | 4S | 6S | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazratullah Zazai | 13 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 81.25 | |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK) | 84 | 45 | 4 | 6 | 186.67 | |
| Ibrahim Zadran | 40 | 38 | 2 | 1 | 105.26 | |
| Najibullah Zadran | 17 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 170.00 | |
| Mohammad Nabi (C) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 | |
| Rashid Khan | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 128.57 | |
| Karim Janat | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Extra | 11 (b 0, w 9, nb 1, lb 1) | |||||
| Total | 175/6 (20) | |||||
| Yet To Bat | S Shenwari, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi | |||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 |
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 8.50 |
| Dilshan Madushanka | 4 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 9.25 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 5.75 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 14.50 |
| Dasun Shanaka | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 11.00 |
| Fall Of Wickets | FOW | Over |
|---|---|---|
| Hazratullah Zazai | 1-46 | 4.5 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | 2-139 | 15.3 |
| Ibrahim Zadran | 3-151 | 17.2 |
| Mohammad Nabi | 4-166 | 18.4 |
| Najibullah Zadran | 5-166 | 18.5 |
| Rashid Khan | 6-174 | 19.6 |
Sri Lanka Playing XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka
Afghanistan Playing XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Samiullah Shinwari, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
SL vs AFG Highlights: Sri Lanka AVENGE LOSS with RECORD chase to beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets in Super 4 opener, Check Asia Cup 2022 Highlights
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