Desk Report:
Sri Lanka needed 101 runs to qualify for the Super Four. Even if they lost the match, they had no ‘come-or-die’. But Sri Lanka, the defending champions of the T20 Asia Cup, lost to the Afghans when the goal was to retain the title!
Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by 6 wickets at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, advancing to the Super Four. With this victory for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh also made it to the Super Four.
Chasing the target of 170 runs set by the Afghans, the Sri Lankans lost Patum Nishanka (6) for 22 runs and Kamil Mishra (4) for 47 runs. Then, two Kushals—Mendis and Perera—put up a partnership for the wicket. They made a 45-run partnership off 36 balls. The partnership was broken when Kushal Perera was dismissed for 28 runs off 20 balls. However, opener Kushal Mendis continued to play with one end in front. He reached fifty off 40 balls and remained unbeaten on 74. His 52-ball innings included 10 fours. Kamindu Mendis played a role in Sri Lanka’s easy win by putting on an unbroken partnership of 52 runs off 23 balls for the sixth wicket with Kusal Mendis. He scored 26 runs off 13 balls.
Earlier, Afghanistan batted first and scored 169 runs for 8 wickets. At one stage of the Afghan innings, it seemed that they would be able to score 150 runs. But due to a six by Mohammad Nabi in the last over, the Afghans challenged 170 runs to win beyond 150 runs.
The start of the innings was not good for the Afghans. They lost 3 wickets for 40 runs before the end of the fifth over. Nuwar Tushara took all three wickets.
The Afghans were in trouble after losing Rahmatullah Gurbaz (14), Karim Janat (1) and Sediqullah Atal (18). No big partnership was formed in this situation. Ibrahim Zadran and Darwish Rasuli tried to settle down, but they were pressured by Sri Lanka’s economical bowling. At that opportunity, Dasun Shanaka bowled two overs for just 8 runs. The most disappointing thing for Afghanistan was playing dot balls continuously. They could not make more than 63 runs after losing 3 wickets in 10 overs.
Then Kusal Perera took an incredible catch from the boundary line to return Rasuli (9). Dushmant Chamira took another spectacular catch of Ibrahim (24). In between, however, Azmatullah Omarzai was bowled by Shanaka. Afghanistan lost 3 wickets in three consecutive overs; the score was 79/6. At that time, it seemed that the Afghans’ innings might not reach 150. But Mohammad Nabi accelerated the slow pace of scoring towards the end. He scored 60 runs off 22 balls. His strike rate for the innings, which included 3 fours and 6 sixes, was 172.72!
Nuwan Tushara was the most successful with the ball. He took 4 wickets for 18 runs.
