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Hashmatullah Shahidi's spirited run in World Cup 2023 continued as they defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in Pune to reach the fifth position on the points table. Fazalhaq Farooqi's four-fer followed by half-centuries from Rahmat Shah, Shahidi, and Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan beat the champions of the 1996 World Cup by six wickets with 28 balls to spare. In doing so, they boosted their net run rate (NRR) as well to improve their chances of reaching the last four stage.
Earlier, Shahidi won the toss and opted to field first. Dimuth Karunaratne on his return could not make an impact and got out lbw to Farooqi in the sixth over. Kusal Mendis did not attack straight away. Pathum Nissanka did the bulk of the scoring. In the 19th over, Omarzai broke the partnership with Nissanka's wicket. The opener scored 46 runs from 60 balls including five fours. Mendis picked up pace after Sadeera Samarawickrama's arrival at the crease. The partnership was broken in the 28th over by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Mendis went for the slog sweep and got caught at deep mid-wicket. He scored 39 runs from 50 balls. Sri Lanka were 134/3 when he departed.
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In his next over, Mujeeb trapped Samarawickrama in front of the crease. He scored 36 runs from 40 balls including three fours. In the same over, a run-out chance was missed. Rashid Khan in his 100th ODI did not let Dhananjaya de Silva who got bowled by the wrong one. Farooqi returned and got the wicket of Charith Asalanka to increase Sri Lanka's troubles. He scored 22 runs from 28 balls. To make matters worse, Dushmantha Chameera got run out in the 40th over.
While Angelo Mathews took his time, Maheesh Theekshana tried to score quickly in slog overs. Mathews joined him in the 46th over with a six off Naveen-ul-Haq. Theekshana hit Farooqi for a six and then got bowled by his yorker. He scored 29 runs from 31 balls. In the penultimate over, Mathews became Farooqi's fourth victim of the day. He scored 23 runs from 26 balls. In the final over, Dilshan Madushanka got run out as Sri Lanka got bowled out for 241 with three balls left in the innings.
In the run chase, Rahmanullah Gurbaz was bamboozled by the left-arm pacer as he bot bowled for a four-ball duck. Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah got Afghanistan off to a decent start. They had 50 runs on the board after 10 overs. Boundaries dried up and the pressure got to Zadran. Madushanka returned and bowled a short ball to get the opener's wicket. He scored 39 runs from 57 balls in the 73-run partnership. Skipper Shahidi looked in good touch straight away. Afghanistan crossed the 100-run mark in the 22nd over.
In the 25th over, Rahmat reached his 25th half-century from 61 balls. In the 28th over, Rahmat was dropped by Samarawickrama off Kasun Rajitha's bowling. Rajitha came back well and got his wicket off the next ball. He scored 62 runs from 74 balls including seven fours. While Shahidi anchored the run chase, Omarzai took the risks. He hit Theekshana and Chameera for one six each in consecutive overs.
Azmatullah continued to take risks and got rewarded for it. Shahidi reached his half-century in the 42nd over. In the next over, Azmatullah completed his run-a-ball fifty. The set pair looked in a hurry to finish the run chase and give a minor boost to their NRR. Omarzai finished the run chase in the 46th over. He remained unbeaten for 73 off 63 balls including six fours and three sixes. On the other hand, Shahidi remained unbeaten for 58 off 74 balls.
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