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Kusal Mendis' explosive 87-ball 158 was the only positive for Sri Lanka in the warm-up game against Afghanistan as they lost the game by six wickets as per the DLS method in a rain-interrupted encounter. After Mohammad Nabi's four-fer caused a collapse, Rahmanullah Gurbaz's century and Rahmat Shah's 93-run knock helped Afghanistan chase down the revised target of 257 with 23 balls to spare at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on October 3.
Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to field first. Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne for a single-digit score. After a few dot deliveries, Mendis shifted gears and hit Azmatullah Omarzai for three fours in an over. In his next over, Mendis smashed two sixes and a four. Abdul Rahman broke the partnership in his first over with the wicket of Pathum Nissanka who scored 30 runs from 38 balls.
Mendis inflicted more damage on Omarzai and reached his half-century from just 31 balls. He hit Abdul for three consecutive fours and reached his century from just 59 balls. Mendis did not retire after scoring his century. He got to his 150 from 84 balls. He retired after the 30th over when Sri Lanka had 240/2 on the board. Mendis' knock was laced with 19 fours and nine sixes.
Rashid Khan returned to get the wicket of Sadeera Samarawickrama who played second fiddle to Mendis with a 54-ball 39. In the 39th over, Nabi struck twice to dismiss Charith Asalanka and Dunith Wellalage. Dushan Hemantha became Nabi's third victim. In the 45th over, he got the wicket of Lahiru Kumara as well. Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazlahaq Farooqi wrapped up the innings as Dhananjaya de Silva was left stranded on the other end. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 294 from 46.2 overs.
Afghanistan's run chase got off to a slow start. Only seven runs were scored from the first five overs. Rajitha dismissed Ibrahim Zadran in the seventh over for a single-digit score. Gurbaz looked to score quickly with Rahmat's arrival at the crease. Rahmat did not take much time to get going either. Rahmat reached his half-century from 45 balls whereas Gurbaz took 61 deliveries. In the 21st over, rain played spoilsport when Afghanistan had 118/1 on the board.
After the rain break, Afghanistan were given a revised target of 257 from 42 overs. Rahmat and Gurbaz looked to finish it off early. In Wellalage's six, Rahmat hit two consecutive sixes whereas Gurbaz smashed one as well. In Hematha's over, Gurbaz hit three more sixes. He reached his century from 88 balls. He hit Kumara for three consecutive sixes as well. After the 212-run partnership took Afghanistan to the doorstep of victory, both Gurbaz and Rahmat retired out. Gurbaz smashed nine sixes and eight fours in his 92-ball 119 whereas Rahmat's 82-ball 93 had 10 fours and three sixes.
Nabi could not do much with the bat and lost his wicket to Kumara. Omarzai ended the run chase with a six off the 39th over as Afghanistan won the warm-up encounter by six wickets as per DLS method.
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