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Cricket

Asia Cup 2023: Sri Lanka defeats Afghanistan by 2 runs

Afghanistan was once on track to do the seemingly impossible, but finally they lost their momentum and were eliminated from the Asia Cup, heartbreakingly missing out on at least one victory in the competition. Afghanistan, who had lost their first encounter against Bangladesh, had to reach the goal in 37.1 overs as Sri Lanka struggled to 291-8 in the final Group ‘B’ match on Tuesday at the Gaddafi Stadium.

“We were never communicated those calculations,” explained Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott in the post-match press conference after his side bowed out of the tournament with a 2-run loss in the Group B match in Lahore on Tuesday.

“All we were communicated was we needed to win in 37.1 overs. We weren’t told what the overs in which we could get 295 or 297. That we could win in 38.1 overs was never communicated to us,” the former England batter stated. Beyond that, additional runs are added to the team total as well as the score for each hitter. Simply put, Afghanistan’s total would have been 295 and not 292, regardless of the 292-run goal, had they struck a six when they were at 289 instead of 288. They would still have won the game, but the outcome would have been determined by their net run rate. By this, 297 was the highest they could have climbed.

However, it turned out it wasn’t the only equation that qualified and Afghanistan weren’t aware of it.
Before Rashid Khan brought Afghanistan closer to what may have been a historic victory, Afghanistan was set up by the absolute fireworks of Mohammad Nabi and important hits from Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi. Rashid and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, who were on the striker’s end, believed they needed three runs to win and advance to the Super Four round on the first ball of the 38th over.

Rashid and Afghanistan believed it was over when Mujeeb exited in an effort to pursue a boundary. They didn’t appear to know that Afghanistan might have won the game and advanced if they had placed 295 on the board by the fourth ball of the over. Afghanistan lost by two runs as their final batter, Fazalhaq Farooqi, was caught lbw by Dunith Wellalage while he kept blocking. The Shahidi-led team previously gave Sri Lanka more than simply worries.

Afghanistan was in trouble at 129-4 in the 20th over, but Nabi sped up the chase and helped the squad turn things around as they added 96 runs in the next 10 overs. Nabi scored five sixes and six fours to help Afghanistan get back into the match as he and Shahidi collaborated for 80 runs for the fifth wicket.

The senior hitter eventually struck out in the 27th over off Maheesh Theekshana, but Shahidi and Karim Janat (22) kept the pace going by adding 33 runs before they both fell to Wellalage in the same over. Najibullah Zadran (age 23) and Rashid (age 27 and still going) kept Afghanistan going.

When Mujeeb was dropped and Sri Lanka won, the Afghan camp did not understand their hopes were still alive, making for an extraordinarily dramatic conclusion. Kusal Mendis, a talented batsman, earlier came within eight runs of a century, but his effort was still enough to lead Sri Lanka to 291-8 after they won the toss and decided to bat first.

The 28-year-old batsman led Sri Lanka’s innings with an explosive 84-ball 92 that contained three sixes and six boundaries. Pathum Nissanka (41) and Dimuth Karunaratne (32) put up a 63-run opening partnership to help Sri Lanka get off to a fast start in their innings. In his place, Mendis and Charith Asalanka contributed 102 runs for the fourth wicket, with Asalanka scoring a 43-ball 36.

But as soon as Mendis was run out, the partnership was shattered, and a batting collapse followed. The Afghans’ strong bowling caused Sri Lanka, who started off at 186-3, to lose four wickets in the space of 41 runs, including that of Mendis. Wellalage and Theekshana (28), who combined for a vital 64 runs for the ninth wicket, hit an unbeaten 39-ball 33 with a six and three boundaries.With Theekshana’s dismissal off the last pitch, fast bowler Naib finished with the best innings-ending numbers for Afghanistan with 4-60.

Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka Captain: “It’s a tough one. It’s very hard to defend such a total with only four fielders. DDS and my wickets were important. Mendis and Asalanka built the innings well. Credit to Theekshana and Wellalage that we ended at 291. First target was that. A couple of wickets opened the door for us. Nabi took the game away from us. However, we ended up winning – that’s what is important!”

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afganistan Captain: “Very disappointed about it. We fought well. We gave our 100%. I am proud of the team – of the way they played, and fought till the last ball. We have played good cricket in ODIs in the last couple of years. But from the last four or five games we were struggling. We are very near to the World Cup. We will learn from and work on what we did here. Our crowd always supports us, and we are thankful to them. We try our best to give something to them; we feel sorry for them that we didn’t qualify today.”

 

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