Afghanistan lay down early marker with thumping win

Date:

Afghanistan laid down an early marker in the 2022 Asia Cup as they smashed Sri Lanka on the opening night of the tournament in Dubai on Saturday (August 27). Afghanistan pretty much won the battle in the powerplay in both the innings as a clueless Sri Lankan outfit was swatted inside by 8 wickets with their opponents chasing down 106 inside 11 overs.

What happened in the powerplay?

Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start to their campaign. Kusal Mendis was rapped on the pad and was given not out by the umpire but Mohammad Nabi was convinced and challenged the decision. Replays confirmed that the decision indeed had to get overturned. But the real blow came off the very next ball for Sri Lanka as Farooqi got Charith Asalanka with a ball that jagged back in sharp after pitching. In the next over, a slightly controversial decision saw Pathum Nissanka walk back after the third umpire upheld the onfield call to rule him caught behind even though snicko didn’t really show a spike. But that dream start saw Afghanistan reduce Sri Lanka to just 5/3 which was followed by a maiden over by Farooqi.

Afghanistan laid down an early marker in the 2022 Asia Cup as they smashed Sri Lanka on the opening night of the tournament in Dubai on Saturday (August 27). Afghanistan pretty much won the battle in the powerplay in both the innings as a clueless Sri Lankan outfit was swatted inside by 8 wickets with their opponents chasing down 106 inside 11 overs.

What happened in the powerplay?

Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start to their campaign. Kusal Mendis was rapped on the pad and was given not out by the umpire but Mohammad Nabi was convinced and challenged the decision. Replays confirmed that the decision indeed had to get overturned. But the real blow came off the very next ball for Sri Lanka as Farooqi got Charith Asalanka with a ball that jagged back in sharp after pitching. In the next over, a slightly controversial decision saw Pathum Nissanka walk back after the third umpire upheld the onfield call to rule him caught behind even though snicko didn’t really show a spike. But that dream start saw Afghanistan reduce Sri Lanka to just 5/3 which was followed by a maiden over by Farooqi.

Did anyone star for Sri Lanka?

Bright spots were rare on a horror day. Once they were reduced to 5/3, Sri Lanka did stage a commendable recovery to finish the powerplay on a high following a 20-run over. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the key architect as he kept finding the boundary on a night where the rest of his mates struggled. He stitched a useful stand with Danushka Gunathilaka as the duo helped Sri Lanka recover after those early blows. However, against the run of play, Afghanistan struck again to halt Sri Lanka’s momentum with Mujeeb ur Rahman opening his tally. Gunathilaka timed a reverse sweep quite well but found the fielder near the boundary. That wicket didn’t deter Rajapaksa as he kept going at one end. However, Afghanistan did keep chipping away at the opposite end as Mujeeb struck again, this time getting rid of Hasaranga. Nabi then got into the act by first removing Dasun Shanaka with a delivery that just straightened after pitching to take the outside edge before a couple of needless runouts cost Sri Lanka big time. One of those run outs saw Rajapaksa get dismissed as Sri Lanka found themselves reeling at 75/9. Karunaratne made amends to an extent after those run outs as he helped his side crawl past 100.

Did Sri Lanka have any chance after the powerplay?

Not one bit. A wicket did fall first ball after the powerplay as Gurbaz stepped down the track to Hasaranga and missed a googly completely to get bowled but the bowler’s half-hearted smile told the story. 83 runs were already knocked off in six overs and Afghanistan needed only 23 more with all the time in the world. Ibrahim Zadran brought that deficit further down with a couple of boundaries before an unlucky run out saw him head back to the pavilion. But Zazai saw his side home as Afghanistan chased down the target with 59 balls to spare. In a group of death, a loss such as this one can be devastating. Sri Lanka will now have to beat Bangladesh comprehensively and hope Afghanistan also do the same.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 105 in 19.4 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 38, Chamika Karunaratne 31; Fazalhaq Farooqi 3/11, Mohammad Nabi 2/14) lost to Afghanistan106/2 in 10.1 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 40, Hazratullah Zazai 37*; Wanindu Hasaranga 1/19) by 8 wickets. (Cricbuzz)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Popular

spot_imgspot_img

Subscribe

More like this
Related

Police Public School wins Volleyball Tournament in Srinagar

Team of boys of Police Public School , Bemina...

CUK declares Mar-29, 30 as working days for all non-teaching staff

Srinagar, Mar 28 : The Central University of Kashmir...

11 passengers injured in Poonch accident, hospitalized

Poonch, Mar 28 : At least 11 passengers were...

Only Almighty Allah will decide who goes to Jannat; Imran Ansari tells Omar Abdullah.

Suhail Khan Srinagar, Mar 28 - Imran Raza Ansari,...