Sri Lanka kept their faint Twenty20 World Cup chances alive with a six-wicket victory against Afghanistan at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday, thanks to an unbeaten 66 from Dhananjaya de Silva.
The Asia Cup champions moved to four points in Group 1 and still have a chance to advance to the semifinals, but they need favorable results elsewhere.
Group 1 leaders New Zealand played England, who have three points, in a later game at the Gabba on Tuesday, after Australia defeated Ireland on Monday to tie for first place with five points but fall behind the Black Caps in net run rate.
Afghanistan are eliminated from the tournament since they cannot qualify for the semifinals with one group match remaining against Australia, following two rainouts and an opening loss to England.
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Afghanistan’s captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and elected to bat, but Sri Lanka’s leg-spinner and player of the match Wanindu Hasaranga held them to 144 runs.
The Sri Lankan run chase got off to a terrible start when Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled Pathum Nissanka for 10 with a reverse-spin delivery.
‘We fell short’
Kusal Mendis and de Silva recovered and brought the score to 46 when Afghanistan’s trump card, leg-spinner Rashid Khan, induced a top edge from Mendis, allowing keeper Rahululah Gurbaz to make an easy catch.
Charith Asalanka was caught on the boundary by Azmat Omarzai for 19 runs, but Sri Lanka had already surpassed 100 runs and assumed control of the run chase.
De Silva produced a well-balanced innings, scoring 66 runs off 42 deliveries to lead Sri Lanka to victory.
Dasun Shanaka, the captain of Sri Lanka, was satisfied with his team’s efforts with the bat and the ball.
Shanaka stated, “I believe we found some consistency today, and it will be vital to maintain that in the upcoming game.”
“We have no influence over the other games, but our goal is to win the next game with a strong run rate.”
During Afghanistan’s innings, Hasaranga took 3-13 while allowing no boundaries in a four-over session.
Afghanistan batted well intermittently and appeared to be on track for a huge score, but whenever they began to open up, Sri Lanka’s bowlers were able to take crucial wickets to keep them in check.
Even though six of Afghanistan’s batters got off to a solid start, none were able to turn it into a huge score, with Usman Ghani’s 27 being the highest.
The goal of 145 was at least 20 runs short of a competitive score, as Sri Lanka sailed to victory with nine balls remaining when De Silva hit the winning four to bring them to 148-4.
“We had a solid start in the powerplay, but were unable to sustain it,” Nabi remarked of Afghanistan’s performance on the field.
“We attempted to score well, but the pitch was too sluggish, and we fell short.
“We did not bowl the appropriate lengths and lines.”