BRISBANE: Dhananjaya de Silva starred with a blistering knock of unbeaten 66 off 42 as Sri Lanka sealed a convincing win by six wickets on Tuesday to push Afghanistan out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
Set to chase 145, Dhananjaya dominated the Afghan bowlers as he smacked six fours and two sixes to take his team home.
Following the defeat, Afghanistan were ruled out of the tournament as they currently sit at the bottom of Group 1 with just two points and have only one game left as they will face Australia on November 4.
Opting to bat first, Afghanistan got off to a cautious start. With the fielding restriction in place, openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Usman Ghani scored 42 runs, but the side was eventually limited to 144/8 as none of their batters could make it into the 30s.
Afghan spinners, Mujeeb ur Rehman and Rashid Khan, on the other hand, put up brave resistance to defend the target as both took two wickets apiece yet their efforts proved insignificant without any support from the pace attack.
After an early scare by Mujeeb in the second over as he dismissed opener Pathum Nissanka, Dhanjaya gathered with Kusal Mendis (25 off 27) to anchor the run chase with a cautious 34-run partnership before Rashid removed the wicket-keeper batter in the eighth over.
Charith Asalanka then joined all-rounder Dhanjaya on the crease and established a strong 54-run partnership in 34 balls to take the scoreboard to 100/2 in 13.2 overs before no 4 batter walked back to the pavilion after scoring 19 off 18.
Sri Lanka sailed comfortably to the target with yet another powerful stand of 42 runs as Bhanuka Rajapksa chipped in with 18 off 14 alongside Dhanjaya.
Earlier in the first innings, Lahiru Kumara provided the first breakthrough to Sri Lanka soon after the powerplay ended as he uprooted the middle stump when wicketkeeper batter Gurbaz was batting at 28 off 24 balls, including two fours and two sixes.
Ghani, however, ended his scratchy knock of 27-ball 27 in the 11th over, falling prey to Hasarange, who bowled superbly throughout the innings and went on to claim the wickets of Rashid Khan and no 9 batter Mujeeb ur Rehman in the last over. The Leg spinner was the pick of the bowlers for the Asian champions as he returned economical figures of 3/13 in his fours quota.
With three brief partnerships in the middle, Afghanistan were able to take its score to 132/5 in 18 overs but Sri Lanka bowled prudently in the last two overs, offering mere 12 runs while they scalped three wickets.
