HAMBANTOTA: Ibrahim Zadran fell short of his well-deserved hundred by just two runs but it was enough to propel Afghanistan to a dominant six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the three-match series here on Friday.
Set to chase 269, Afghanistan completed the pursuit for the loss of just four wickets and 19 balls to spare at the back of magnificent half-centuries by Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah.
The touring side got off to an unwanted start to the run chase as they lost their hard-hitting opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (14 off 23) in the sixth over with 25 runs on the scoreboard.
Following an early setback, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat took charge of Afghanistan’s run chase and laid a solid foundation with a brilliant 146-run partnership.
Ibrahim was the core aggressor of the second-wicket stand before Kasun Rajitha got rid of him in the 30th over.
The right-handed opener fell just two runs short of what could have been his fourth ODI century and third against Sri Lanka. He smashed 11 boundaries and two sixes on his way to top score for Afghanistan with a run-a-ball 98.
Rahmat Shah then joined hands with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi in the middle and put on a vital 40-run partnership for the third wicket before falling in the 37th over, briefly after amassing his half-century.
He hit three boundaries amid his 55-run anchoring knock and faced 80 deliveries in the process.
Following Rahmat’s dismissal, Hashmatullah spearheaded his side’s run chase and put on a 42-run partnership with Mohammad Nabi before Kasun Rajitha struck again for Sri Lanka and removed the Afghanistan captain. He scored 38 off 47 deliveries, hitting four boundaries.
Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran (seven off six) then completed a comfortable run chase for Afghanistan in the 47th over as they stitched an unbeaten 16-run partnership.
Nabi remained unbeaten in the run chase with a 28-ball 27 which featured four boundaries.
Rajitha led the bowling attack for Sri Lanka with 2/49 while Lahiru Kumara and Matheesha Pathirana could pick up a wicket.
Put into bat first, Sri Lanka bundled out for a modest 268 in 50 overs despite Charith Asalanka’s 91 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s half-century.
The home side got off to a dismal start to their innings and kept losing wickets at regular intervals which saw them restricted to 84/4 in the 20th over with opener Pathum Nissanka also perishing after a fighting 38-run knock.
Following the slump, Charith Asalanka and de Silva launched Sri Lanka’s recovery and added 99 runs to the total before the latter perished soon after completing his fifty.
Dhananjaya de Silva scored 51 from 59 balls with the help of five boundaries.
Meanwhile, Asalanka stood his ground firm and put on brief partnerships with Dasun Shanaka (17) and Dushan Hemantha (22) before finally departing in the final over; courtesy of a runout.
Asalanka scored 91 off 95 deliveries, laced up with 12 boundaries.
Sri Lanka’s batting tail remained hapless against a disciplined Afghanistan bowling attack and was bundled out on the final delivery of their innings.
Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad picked up two wickets each for Afghanistan while Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad and Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck out a batter apiece.
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