Afghanistan ease to target after bowling Sri Lanka out for 241 to win by seven wickets and collect their third win in six group matches
Afghanistan, 242-3, beat Sri Lanka, 241 all out, by seven wicketsA spirited Afghanistan upset another former champion team on Monday when Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men defeated the 1996 winners Sri Lanka by seven wickets to continue their memorable World Cup campaign.
Their bowlers had laid the foundation of their third win in six matches when they bowled out Sri Lanka for a below-par 241 in 49.3 overs. Three of their top five batters, including Shahidi, then produced half-centuries in a clinical chase which they accomplished in 45.2 overs to move to fifth place in the points table.Put into bat, several Sri Lankan batters got tin but could not quite capitalise on those starts.
At 134 for two in the 28th over, Sri Lanka looked well placed to reach around the 275-mark but the Afghans struck at regular intervals to peg them back. Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana put on 45 quick runs for the eighth wicket but Sri Lanka still fell short of 250. Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over but Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran calmed the nerves with a 73-run partnership. Kasun Rajitha dismissed Rahmat but not before the batter had brought up his second successive fifty of the tournament.