Wanindu Hasaranga led an inspired bowling effort before Dhananjaya de Silva hit a nice fifty as Sri Lanka kept their semi-final hopes alive with a six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup, at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday. Mystery spinner Hasaranga (3/13) and pacer Lahiru Kumara (2/30) split five wickets to limit Afghanistan to 144 for 8. Dhananjaya then took control of the Sri Lankan innings with a rake unbeaten 66 from 42 balls as reigning Asia Cup champions crossed the line with nine balls left.
With the win, Sri Lanka climbs to third place in group 1. Afghanistan, on the other hand, fell out of the semi-finals.
Sri Lanka defended a modest total and started well, but Mujeeb ur Rahman (2/24) secured a lead to mark the end of Pathum Nissanka (10), putting pressure on the Sri Lankans. Fazalhaq Farooqi (1/22) threw a girl into the next to tighten the screws.
However, Kusal Mendis (25) hit back-to-back boundaries in the next over at both midwicket as Sri Lanka fell to 28 for 1 in the Powerplay.
Rashid Khan (2/31) struck in his first over as Mendis went for a premeditated but from above for the keeper to catch it.
While the Afghans tried to build pressure by bowling dots, Sri Lanka continued to score at a healthy pace, with occasional limits and sixes.
Rashid’s second went over for 14 runs as de Silva hit a four-down fine leg before plunging the star spinner down the deep mid-wicket for a six.
Dhananjaya continued the charge with a six on Mohammad Nabi in the next over to keep the required run rate within seven.
Along with Charith Asalanka (19), Dhananjaya racked up a 54-run tie, followed by a 42-run partnership with Bhanuka Rajapaksa (18) to take Sri Lanka to victory.
Where the Afghans previously managed to forge some partnerships at the top, Sri Lanka did well to strike regularly.
The ball swung in the first two overs, but then the Sri Lankan bowlers struggled to get their lengths right when Rahmanullah Gurbaz (28) took on the role of the aggressor.
The wicketkeeper’s batter danced down and hit a glorious straight drive off Kasun Rajitha to register the first maximum of the innings.
The Afghans then hit three more fours and a six to collect 42 of the first six overs.
But right after the power play, Kumara made the first breakthrough for the Sri Lankans.
Gurbaz looked to be getting big, but there was just enough movement as the ball crossed the gap between the bat and the pad to crash into the stumps.
The spinners were then able to delay proceedings after the wicket, but Usman Ghani (27) knocked Kumara out for a six too long.
Ghani looked up the ante and tried to go for it again in the 11th over Hasaranga, who was charged again.
However, the Afghan was done by a googly who bounced a bit and skipper Dasun Shanaka stopped him deep in the middle of the wicket.
Ibrahim Zadran (22) became Kumara’s second victim in the 13th over.
With wickets in hand, Mohammad Nabi (13) sent a slower one for extra cover. But the skipper couldn’t stay in the middle for long as Afghanistan failed to fire in the death overs, losing five wickets for 40 runs from the last 30 balls.
promoted
Sri Lanka was once against guilty of sloppiness on the pitch.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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