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Afghanistan's 21-year-old opener Ibrahim Zadran missed his fourth ODI century by just two runs but his knock helped the visitors register a comfortable win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the series. In the absence of an injured Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi used his bowlers well to restrict Sri Lanka to 268. The 269-run target was chased by Afghanistan with six wickets hand and 19 balls to spare.
Asalanka saves the day for Sri Lanka
Shahidi won the toss and opted to field first at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota. Left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi struck early. Dimuth Karunaratne was dimissed in the third over for a single-digit score. With the new ball, Farooqi struck again to get Kusal Mendis' wicket. Angelo Mathews was the next to fall in the 15th over. Opener Pathum Nissanka could not capitalise on a good start. Mujeeb Ur Rahman scored 38 runs from 59 balls.
The 99-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva helped Sri Lanka recover. Veteran Afghanistan off-spinner Mohammad Nabi broke the partnership in the 38th over. Silva scored 51 runs from 59 balls including five fours. Skipper Dasun Shanaka started off well but fell to his Gujarat Titans (GT) teammate Noor Ahmad. Asalanka kept firing from one end in the slog overs. Dushan Hemantha contributed with a 20-ball 22 before losing his wicket in the penultimate over.
In the final over, Asalanka missed a chance to score his second ODI century as he got run out. He scored 91 runs from 95 balls including 12 fours. Three wickets fell in the final over including two run outs as Sri Lanka got all out for 268 in 50 overs.
Ibrahim does damage
In the run chase, Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell early as he got bowled by Lahiru Kumara. Ibrahim and Rahmat Shah did not panic and their 146-run partnership for the second wicket helped them stay in the hunt. Kasun Rajitha broke the partnership in the 30th over. The opener's run-a-ball 98 was studded with 11 fours and two sixes.
Skipper Shahidi and Shah took control of the run chase. Debutant Matheesha Pathirana got the breakthrough in the 37th over. Shah scored 55 runs from 80 balls including three fours. Shahidi had a chance to finish off the run chase but he became Rajitha's second victim of the day. He scored 38 runs from 47 balls including four fours. Nabi with his unbeaten 27 finished the run chase with 19 balls to spare.
“It's very hard to get out like that. I wanted to make a hundred and finish the game, but it's part of the game,” Ibrahim said in the post-match presentation as he was adjudged ‘Player of the match’.
Shanaka not too worried
Shanaka did not blame his teammates and took it as a learning ahead of World Cup qualifiers as he said, “The plan was to play positive cricket, we had experience in the dug-out, but unfortunately things didn't go well. 300+ would have been challenging, but we felt short, we did bowl well, he (Pathirana) came straight away from IPL to a 50-over game. With the WC qualifiers close by, we wanted to have a look at him. We need to win games, but the WC qualifiers is important, we'll rotate the bowlers around throughout the series.”
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