GUWAHATI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s century, paired up with Rahmat Shah’s 93 propelled Afghanistan to a resounding six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the warm-up fixture of the ICC World Cup 2023.
Chasing a revised target of 257 in 42 overs, Afghanistan comfortably knocked off the runs with 23 balls to spare.
Afghanistan, however, had a contrasting start to their pursuit as they lost opener Ibrahim Zadran (7) with just 19 runs on the board in 6.4 overs.
Gurbaz then partnered with Rahmat Shah and the pair launched an astounding recovery by adding a mammoth 212 runs for the second wicket.
The opener got to his century in the process while Shah was seven short of the milestone before both opted to retire by the end of the 32nd over.
Gurbaz top-scored with 119 in 92 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries and nine sixes while Shah hit 93 off 82 balls. His innings featured 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Najibullah Zadran (15) and Azmatullah Omarzai (14) then put together a match-winning 27-run partnership, steering Afghanistan to a morale-boosting victory.
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Put into bat first, Sri Lanka could register 294 runs on the board despite a marathon 158-run knock by their stand-in skipper Kusal Mendis.
Sri Lanka got off to a below-par start to their innings as their openers raised a brisk 30-run stand before Mujeeb Ur Rahman got rid of Dimuth Karunaratne (8) in the sixth over.
Coming out to bat at number three, Mendis joined Pathum Nissanka (30) at the crease and the pair knitted a 52-run stand before the latter perished in the 13th over.
Following the slump, Mendis found subtle support in the form of Sadeera Samarawickrama and the duo anchored the innings with a brilliant 158-run partnership.
Mendis majorly dominated the third-wicket partnership and notched up the 150-run mark before he opted to retire out when Sri Lanka were 240/2 in 30 overs.
He remained the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with a quickfire 87-ball 158 which featured 19 boundaries and nine sixes.
Following his departure, Sri Lanka began to lose wickets at an alarming rate before consequently bowled out for 294 in the 47th over.
Samarawickrama remained the next notable run-getter for Sri Lanka with a 54-ball 39 which included four boundaries.
Mohammad Nabi led the bowling attack for Afghanistan with 4/44 in his eight overs while Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdul Rahman and Rashid Khan struck out a batter apiece.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s third warm-up fixture of the ICC World Cup 2023 between hosts India and Netherlands was abandoned without a ball bowled.
For the unversed, India’s previous warm-up fixture against England was also washed out without a ball bowled.
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